


Abroad

by italiantwist



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Airports, Attempted Sexual Assault, Developing Relationship, Domestic, F/M, Fluff, Misfits eventually, Roommates, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, Twitchcon, Video Format: Streaming, YouTube
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:14:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 30,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23522128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/italiantwist/pseuds/italiantwist
Summary: you thought studying in London couldn't get any better, until you met him.✈ A Wilbur Soot/Reader Fic(this is on Wattpad too, I'm the same author!)
Relationships: Wilbur Soot/Reader
Comments: 23
Kudos: 167





	1. I

•Lily•

Maybe deciding to stay in state, well in town, wasn't my best decision social wise for my college experience.

After two long years of commuting back and forth from University, I decided there needed to be a change in Junior year. Financially wise it was absolutely genius. No meal plan, commuter grants, being close to my family and whatever friends were left in my hometown from high school, it was absolutely great. The one downside, the absolute monotony of it all.

Getting up and driving to class, go to whatever club I had that week, and then going home to do homework - perhaps even mix it up and hang out with one of the friends I had made.

Desire can drive a person crazy, I'm going absolutely batshit. I'm going to study abroad and there's absolutely no way anyone can stop me. Except my mom - if all goes downhill that is.

It was too late to go back now. Here I sat in my counselors office in the middle of summer making the biggest decision I've ever had to make. I could feel my nerves tingling and my heart beating ever so slightly faster but even so, I couldn't tell if it was a good or bad thing.

"So," my counselor, Patrick, continued "You want to switch campus, where exactly?"

I took a deep breath.

"London." I said confidently. "I want to go to London for the whole school year."

Patrick opens a file folder, I'm guessing it's filled with my information. He skims through a few papers until he lands on the one he's looking for.

"In your financial information it says you have a grant for $1,000 to study abroad based off of your academic achievements alone, would you want to put that entirely towards the costs?" He asks, looking from the papers to me.

"Absolutely!" I thought for a moment.

"What about housing and meals, things of that sort?"

I had saved up money for the past two years thankfully, having a payment plan set up and a job on and off campus really helped with managing money. With my mom buying the groceries at home, I had more than enough to get through a school year.

We continued to discuss formalities and details for housing, travel, and everything relating to it. I signed a couple papers and soon I was registered as a soon-to-be abroad student.

Patrick got up to sort the information and sat back down in front of me.

"No turning back now Lily, you know this right?" he questioned in a stern tone, but you couldn't help but smile.

"I know and I can't wait."

•

I paced my room back and forth, my mind racing.

_How did I do this_

_How much do I pack_

_Why am so god damn stupid_

_I don't even like PLANES. I DON'T EVEN LIKE AIR._

It was easy to say I wouldn't be calm on the way there.

Two luggages packed and couldn't stop looking at the plane ticket sitting on my bed spread, I had no desire to turn back on my decision - especially because I couldn't now - but I haven't let the United States in my whole life, independence is getting the best of me.

I picked up my phone quickly and ignored the notifications.

No more added stress, I just need clarity.

I tapped Spotify and typed in piano, shuffling the first playlist that came into my view. Nothing like soothing music to ease my mind.

I let out a long sigh and slumped against my wall, throwing my phone on my bed. _'I'm finally going to achieve my dreams'_ I thought, and the nerves pulsing in my chest finally let up and all I felt was ease.

London is where my heart should be.


	2. II

•Lily•

"My little girl is all grown up!"

My mom looked at me with a teary eyed smile from the drivers seat, sitting parked in front of the airport. It made my heart ache to leave but knowing I'd be seeing her in a couple of months made that better. I smiled back at her and leaned over to hug her tight.

"I'll call you and Skype you all the time I promise, I love you mom." I pulled back and unbuckled my seat, cracking the car door to get my luggage from the back.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come? Just to get your luggage or check your passport or-"

"Mom," I cut her off gently and smiled at her once my luggage was by my side and carry on over my shoulder. "I'm gonna be okay. Okay?"

We giggled to ourselves over her panic and said our final goodbyes.

"I love you my flower, you're gonna do great."

"I love you too, bye mom."

•

Suddenly turning back didn't sound like too bad of an idea.

Too many people in once space, that's all I noticed as soon as I stepped two feet into the large building.

Hustle and bustle of families big and small, business men, and people who really seemed like they were just there to be there. _I'll just steer clear of all of them just to be safe._

My flight didn't leave for about 2 hours, but I thought _'hey! the earlier the better! you never know!'_

Yea, I really didn't know.

Once I got my luggage checked and got to my proper gate, I looked at my flight time.

_Fuck._

_Wait._

_Thank fuck I got here early._

It seemed to be that the flight got pushed to earlier with no warning, boarding was in 10 minutes and I got everything I had to get done right in the nick of time. To pass the time, I sat in the waiting area until they called the rest of us to board.

My thoughts raced. I was finally going to London after years and years of growing up in the same place, same old things, and what I thought was the most out of reach dream I could've ever dreamt in my little mind. I can say now that dreams do come true.

I hope my dorm mates are nice, or if I'll even have house mates. Patrick had said they'll either put me in a flat by myself if that'd be more comfortable for me (and if it were even an option). If I wanted to share, then I'd do that. I couldn't even think of a decision to make for it, so I started thinking of anything else. Classes, boring but more exciting, going out, much more exciting, boys, even more exciting- wait why am I even thinking about that.

Falling in love in London of all places is a fever dream within itself, I must be going crazy from being nervous to fly or something like that, yeah that's it.

I hadn't been too lucky with love in the U.S., well less luck and more focusing on schooling. Even though my classes would still be rigorous abroad, since it's a 'cultural experience' as well, we'll have more time to explore. What's the point of trying in a completely new place when it didn't even work in the place I knew best?

I pushed these thoughts down and pulled out my headphones to get ready for when I boarded.

_"Flight 1034 to London is now ready to board. 1034 ready to board."_

The loud speaker in the area caused me to jump up and quickly gather my things, doing a quick check of my area I had my passport ready for as soon as I got on.

The employees at the desk checked over my information and flashed a fake smile before instructing me down the hall to get on. My feet felt heavier as they hit the old carpet that probably hasn't changed since the 80s or something like that.

This was it.

I sat in my seat as directed by the flight attendant as soon as I reached her, lucky for me I got a window seat.

More and more passengers shuffled on, shoving their bags overhead or parents shushing their children for being too loud. The atmosphere was nerve-racking to say the absolute least, but I didn't care. I had a water bottle and some music to listen to, that's all I needed to last this flight.

As soon as everyone was seated, thankfully no one was next to me on the surprisingly un-packed flight, a small ding went off followed by a voice overhead.

 _"Dear passengers, welcome to flight 1034 to London, England. Please buckle up and shut off all devices in preparation for take off. You will be notified as soon as you can use them again, and thank you for choosing us!"_ A sweet woman's voice said.

I felt the plane rumble to life and stared out the window, letting out a long sigh. London here I come.


	3. III

•Lily•

About 2 hours into the flight, I realized I actually _really_ don't like flying.

The clogged, stuffy feeling in my ears, the pressure building up in my head, the economy class seat spacing making my knees practically break after sitting for thirty minutes. It was hell, but in a good way I guess.

The hours flew by, pun intended, and as I dozed in and out of sleep. Soon, two hours turned to four then to nine and it had finally come time for the plane to land.

The main lights overhead came back on, originally off for those who wanted to sleep, and the ding from the beginning of the flight was heard once again.

_"Hello passengers! The plane will be landing within the next 10 minutes. Please fasten your seatbelts and turn off all devices once again. Thank you!"_

A smile of contentment spread across my face as I shut my phone off and packed it into my carry on my by feet. I looked out the window only to find the most beautiful sight I possibly could see.

The night never looked so beautiful.

Tiny beaded lights indicating buildings scattered across the landscape, the moonlight highlighted the peaks of land and every tall building shone under it. As the plane descended more and more, the closer everything got, I genuinely forgot to breathe.

The pressure on my head soon came too much to conflict with what I was looking at out the window so I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes, feeling the rumble of the plane as we hit ground and eventually came to a stop.

Another ding.

_"The plane has safely landed, you may now collect your belongings and begin filing off the plane. I hope you've all had an enjoyable flight and welcome to the United Kingdom!"_

I swept down to grab my carry on and quickly got out of my seat so I wouldn't be the last one out, and followed the line.

•

I located baggage claim and waited for what felt like an eternity for my luggage to pop out. In the mean time, I looked around the airport then checked the time on my phone.

_8:57 PM - September 1, 20xx_

Scanning around the airport, there were families bickering, janitors keeping it clean, and people running from place to place. Practically the same as the last airport, but more put together in a sense.

After I got my luggage, I checked my notes in my phone for where I'd be staying.

I decided on living on my own in a flat, but in the sense that other people I'd be going to school with who also chose that option will be living in flats around me. Shouldn't get too lonely as long as I decide to reach out.

I put the directions in my phone and realize it isn't too far from the airport, a 15 minute walk at most. I had walked longer in my life, so I decided right then and there to just do it, save a few dollars on a taxi and get to know the streets my first night here. I sent a text to my mom that I landed safely, and I was off.

I held my luggage tightly and kept my backpack close. Even in brightly lit streets, I couldn't trust my surroundings too much, I'm in a new god damn country after all.

I followed directions on my phone, glancing down when I had to. After about 10 minutes of doing that I realized there was a drop on my phone. Then another.

Then a hundred other little drops.

It was fucking raining, and I had no umbrella and no clue where I was.

I put the hood of my pink sweatshirt up and began to walk a bit faster, keeping my head down. The amount of rain started to pick up and in turn it covered my screen even more. I was just lost and confused in the rain. My luggage and my entire self were soaked, I stopped for a second and took a deep sigh.

My first day, _well night_ , in London had barely even started and I was already screwing myself over. I needed to get to my flat, and just _sleep_.

I looked at the blurry directions once again, and sprinted through the rain. It felt like decades as I wove through streets which I didn't know the end to or the next turn.

I brought my head up for a split second and saw a blur of yellow and immediately ended up slamming into whatever it was. The air that I preferred to be in my lungs got knocked out of me from the impact. I dropped my phone and luggage out of instinct, sticking my hands out as I rapidly fell forward.

I waited for the ground, but that's not what I fell on.

I fell onto something soft but soaking wet, my knees scratched against the pavement causing me to wince. _That's definitely a scar._ My ears rang with static from the sheer escalation of whatever the hell just happened.

I brought my head up from what I fell on, and immediately felt my heart pulse as I looked into the prettiest brown eyes I've seen in my life.

_"Woah, you okay there?"_


	4. IV

•Wilbur•

What a long day it was about to be.

I woke up and stretched in the comfort of my warm sheets. I already knew getting up would be a pain so I threw off my blanket and headed to the bathroom for a hot shower to start the day. Picking up my phone, I looked at the time before looking through a few notifications.

_10:46 AM - September 1, 20xx_

After my shower, I put on a yellow sweater and some dark jeans. Simple enough. I decided to skip breakfast and just revise my music for today.

My nerves started getting to me a bit as I thought of what I had to do. I had a wedding gig this afternoon, playing through the ceremony and reception, nothing extravagant but enough to get nervous about. I sat and strummed through sheet music. Some I memorized, some I didn't, and that was probably stupid of me but I seem to do stupid stuff quite often.

I practiced a bit longer until my phone read 11:30 AM. I packed my guitar and a small backpack with a few extra things - phone charger, umbrella, water, picks, keys, etc. and headed out my front door.

It was a bit cloudy out I realized. _Thank god I packed that umbrella._

Making my way down to the nearby church the ceremony was being held, I took in my surroundings.

Buildings practically touching from how close they were, people out walking dogs, and the slight wind that still blew through my damp hair. It was a nice feeling, relaxing even.

I went through the side entrance as instructed previously before running in to the wedding coordinator who showed me where to set my self up.

Doing so, I felt a shift in my mood, in everything really. Like some unknown force. I pushed it aside and decided maybe today something exciting would happen throughout the day. Weddings are fun.

_Right?_

•

Weddings are not fun.

Well, not _as_ fun when you're not the one getting married.

It had been a long day, playing almost constantly in two separate places for more than 8 hours was not my favorite thing in the world. The best part was that it payed the bills and gave me some extra pocket change.

I said a quick congratulations to the bride and groom before packing my guitar up and slinging my bag on my shoulder. By the time I got done it was about 9 PM. Not too bad, but I've never felt the sensation of my fingers being numb at the tips before.

My nerves had gotten the best of me for a moment and I got too into playing, so into it that I forgot a pick. I forgot a pick and played for 8 hours. Very big brain move on my part.

I stepped outside to the pouring rain.

_Great, oh that is just great._

I pulled out the umbrella that did some good while trudging through the rain. I hiked back to my house that honestly wasn't too far from where the reception had taken place. It mostly just felt miles away because of the weather.

The strange sensation I felt earlier still filled my general atmosphere. Nothing insane had happened at the wedding from what I remember.

Yeah, there were the classic drunk in-laws dancing the night away, small family feud in the middle, and the shoving of cake into the faces of the couple, but nothing that was truly out of the ordinary. I felt as though I'm expecting something to happen at any moment even though my night is already over. Got my money and left. Thats all I needed to do right? I really hoped so.

The rain picked up quite a bit, causing me to go just a bit faster in my trek to my flat. I turned a corner and felt that feeling leave me, but a new feeling fill me.

Force.

Something, or better to assume someone, slammed full speed into my chest. I let my guitar case drop from my shoulder and threw it to the side to avoid fully crushing it and fell backwards. The umbrella I once held flew out of my hand and my backpack came up enough during my fall to cushion my head from the pavement.

A light weight fell on top of me as I heard the clack of a few other objects fall around us. Their body was pressed into mine, their size and weight severely off putting from the strength of the initial hit.

I sat my head up carefully and they stared up at me.

Taking a closer look, I saw they were actually a she. Lots of panic and confusing passed across her face, until she locked with my eyes. They glistened with curiosity, and a bit of endearment if I were to be so bold.

I couldn't stop staring, even though she was soaking wet, hair and all, she looked so beautiful. Almost angelic in a sense where she'd disappear at the slightest movement.

Before I could stop my brain, I said the first thing that came to mind.

"Woah, you okay there?"

Wow yeah, nice one Wilbur, obviously not. She sat up a bit and up until she did that, I didn't know she was straddling me. My face heated up and flushed a slight red before I took a deep breath. _I just met, well ran into, this girl - what's wrong with me?_

_Is this what I was thinking of?_


	5. V

•Lily•

I cannot believe my recklessness got me so lucky, if I could even call my current situation that. I mean I felt pretty lucky right now staring into this guys eyes that I just trucked down in the pouring rain.

_Sit up idiot! Why am I just staring at him?!_

I pushed myself up from his chest and sat back on my legs or- wait, am I straddling him? Why is my face getting so hot? I couldn't come to move my body after his question, so I answered back quickly.

"Y-Yea I am! Are you? I really hit you down there I'm really sorry I just got here and I-" words spewed out of my mouth in some kind of apology as I looked back at him.

His hand was resting on my leg from when I first fell, and it looked as his face which was probably as red as mine. He propped himself up on one elbow, his eyes beginning to get shielded by his wet hair being weighed down by the rain.

"I'm okay, I think we're both a bit of a mess right now- not saying you're not pretty I just, haha" he let out a little laugh before pushing his hair back. If he keeps this charming act up I genuinely don't know how I'll stay composed.

"Um, I'm Wilbur" His smile was warm and he stuck his hand out towards me that wasn't holding him up.

I took it and held it tightly. "I'm Lilian, but you can call me Lily."

"Pleasure to meet you Lily, I think this conversation would probably be better standing up" I realized that we were still on the ground with the rain pouring increasingly harder every minute.

I gasped and jumped up, sticking my hand out to help him up from the ground. Both of our backs and hair were soaking wet. He dusted himself off and grabbed his things off the ground, Holding the umbrella that had previously been in his hand over my head as I collected my luggage, bag, and phone.

Swiping my thumb over the screen, I felt there were no cracks, but it wasn't turning on. Water damage wasn't surprising from everything that it's been through tonight. I shoved it in my bag and looked back up to Wilbur.

He smiled down at me. He was a lot taller than he looked on the ground.

"What has you rushing through the rain tonight?" He asked. I took a deep breath to compose myself before explaining my situation.

"Well I just flew here from the U.S. for college and I decided that it'd be a great idea to walk from the airport to my new flat since it's pretty close," I paused and smiled up at him, embarrassed "but I got lost and now my phone won't turn on."

I tried my best to read the look on his face, but it was hard with the weather and dull street lights, he seemed to be doing some quick thinking. There was a few beats of silence before he spoke again.

He stuttered a bit before saying, "I know this is kind of forward but, would you want to come back to my flat for the night and I could help you find your way back to yours tomorrow once the weather is better. Just so you can dry off and everything and maybe we can get your phone working again!"

Literally every time I was told about stranger danger completely left my mind. In reality it was stupid of me; new country, new environment, don't even know where I'm living at, and yet I'm actually considering this.

"Well I mean as long as you're not gonna kill me or something, that would be more than helpful." I giggled out. "Lead the way!"

"You're in safe hands, pinky promise." He stuck his pinky out towards me and I hooked it with my own. He moved our hands apart before handing me his umbrella to hold up for the two of us and grabbing one of my suitcases while I grabbed the other.

"How gentlemanly of you mister Wilbur! You really know how to treat a lady." I said jokingly, smirking at him as we began to walk to his flat. He let out a laugh, cute and giggly and _why am I noticing how cute his laugh is?_

"Miss Lily, it's only the best treatment for a stroll in the rain!" He joked back, we kept talking back and forth like that until we got there. The atmosphere of rainy, peaceful London, and easy conversation had made it feel like today was practically a dream.

•

The outside of his flat looked identical to the ones around it, he pulled out his keys and unlocked the door before stepping in. He moved to the side to let me in, wiping his shoes on the doormat and I did the same. I shook out the umbrella a bit outside before closing it, leaving it to sit by the door to dry off. I looked around for a moment to scope out the place, there was a staircase leading up right in front of the main doorway to one flat, while to the right there was another entrance. Wilbur motioned to the door on the upper floor, putting the keys back in his pocket and grabbing the suitcase he had taken as well as the one in my hand.

"Sorry for the hike up the stairs now, I wish I'd gotten the first floor." He said, looking back at me with a small smile while he headed up the stairs and I followed. "No worries, with all you're doing for me I don't mind a couple stairs."

He pushed open the doors to his place and set the luggage, his guitar case, and backpack to the side before sliding his shoes off and leaving them to dry off completely. I took mine off as well, the feeling of soaking wet sock plus shoe was not my favorite thing, and set my backpack next to the rest of the stuff by the door.

It was a cute place, definitely suited him. Full of warm tones and wooden furniture and in between were little knick knacks in reference to video games or movies he must like. It was cozy, but spacey in the best way, fake plants scattered about looking like they'd been bought thousands of years ago, and warm lighting to tie it all together. It was like Wilbur- as far as I knew- channeled into one space, rightfully so.

"It's so cozy in here!" I said, standing in the doorway in awe of the space.

"Thank you, that's how I like it, simple but comfortable." He said before changing the subject.

"You must be cold, here let me show you the bathroom so you can shower and warm up. I'll grab some dry clothes and get some food ready if you're hungry." He moved next to me and placed his hand on the small of my back to guide me, giving me a mini tour as we went along.

I could feel my heart fluttering just from his pure generosity, how could someone so kind help the girl that basically football tackled him in the middle of the night.

He stopped at the bathroom, saying he'd be right back with clothes. Within a minute or two there was a light knock on the door, I opened it a bit and Wilbur's hand poked through holding what seemed to be a pair of sweatpants, a t-shirt, and a sweater. I took them from him and set them aside on the counter, giving a quick 'thank you!' and shutting the door once again.

The feeling of practically peeling my wet clothes off my body was not exactly pleasant, but as soon as I turned the shower on almost to the hottest setting and stepped under, I almost instantly felt my worries wash down the drain. My muscles relaxed and I scrubbed the rain away from my skin in my hair, using Wilbur's products that thankfully weren't a 3-in-one combination. It was minty and whatever could be considered "manly" as a scent.

I reminisced about the day in my head. I had somehow successfully managed to come to London, get lost in the rain, almost break my phone, literally run into an amazing guy, and am now about to sleepover at his house and eat with said guy.

If anything it sounded like a win to me.


	6. VI

•Lily•

I stepped out of the shower after a while, drying off and tying my hair up to keep it out of my way while I put on the clothes Wilbur gave me.

The sweatpants were a bit big, so I rolled them a few times to keep them up, then putting on the very big t-shirt. On him it would look totally fine, but just how it looked on me made me feel tiny, it was kind of nice. Then I slipped on the sweatshirt, it fit a bit better but the softness of it couldn't even be explained if I tried. I took a deep breath with the sweater over my nose, Wilbur's scent filling my senses and easing my nerves. It was almost the same as his shampoo, minty but now with the freshness of detergent, like flowers.

I did the best I could to towel dry my hair and comb through it with my fingers to look somewhat put together in front of him, the guy that was even handsome with rain covering ninety nine percent of his whole being.

I made a lame attempt to fold my wet clothes into a neater pile, and left them in the bathroom to dry a bit. As soon as I opened the door all I could smell was food. I felt like I hadn't eaten in years. Airplane food wasn't exactly the most satisfying thing in the world, but right now comparing that to what I'm smelling, it was easily ranked down significantly.

I went down the hall and walked towards the kitchen, left of the entrance we'd come in. I heard sizzling and saw Wilbur's back turned to me. I leaned on the counter separating the kitchen from the living room.

I watched him for a moment, keeping quiet so I didn't draw any attention while he put various spices into a pan and stirred a pot that rested on the stove in front of him.

"Whatcha making?" I asked watching him jump in place and drop the spoon he was using to stir with. The noise that came out of him was almost inhuman and I couldn't help but laugh at his reaction when he whipped his head around to look at me.

"Jesus you scared me so bad!" He clutched his chest and smiled before continuing "Chicken Alfredo, I hope you're not allergic to anything."

He moved to the side so the chicken and sauce was in view, it smelled as heavenly as it looked- I almost started drooling.

"It feels like I haven't eaten in years, plane food wasn't delicious" He moved to drain the pasta and cut up the chicken before mixing it all together.

"I don't even think I've been on a flight long enough to have true plane food" He pondered while going to a cabinet and pulling out two dishes. I watched as he put three hefty scoops of the food in both, turning to place both dishes on the counter in front of me.

The smell completely invaded my senses and it was the most incredible thing I've seen pretty much ever, well besides my moms cooking, but this was a close second.

"This was the first time I've been on a plane ever actually, the first I've really been out of my hometown." I said, he'd gone into a drawer and gotten two forks, putting one in each. 

He looked at me surprised then deadpanned. "Oh my god I ruined your first experience out of the country." Anything he did seemed to make me laugh, I tried to contain it as he led me out of the kitchen with the dishes to the couch, placing them on the coffee table. The whole time he was rambling.

"Your first time out of the country and I ruined it! And your college too you, should be settled in and I totally got you soaked out in the rain, I didn't even know I'm so sorry! You're probably feeling so lost here oh my -" I cut him off with my laughter as soon as he placed his hands on my shoulders in the middle of it.

I looked at him while I giggled at his sheer madness and held his side gently to keep him from freaking out anymore.

"Wilbur, you literally don't even know how much you helped me tonight. Honestly I'd probably be out in the rain wandering around if I wasn't so clumsy." I let my instinct take control and leaned in to hug him tightly. "So thank you, really."

Who knew I could act like this with someone I met almost 2 hours ago. It felt almost natural, his kindness was so genuine and immediate, I don't think I would've ever met someone like that back in the states.

He was frozen up for a split second before he hugged me back, resting his cheek on my still wet hair. He mumbled something, but I couldn't hear it. I'll ask him about it another time.

"I just don't want to be an inconvenience to your experience and all, I'm happy I can help though." He said, smiling brightly at me. "Well, let's eat!"

I sat on the worn in couch and he tossed a blanket over at me, assumedly to share, before turning on the tv and YouTube instantly popped up. He sat close next to me, so I pushed some of the blanket over his legs. Setting the remote down and taking the plates from the table to our laps, he looked at me and held his fork up.

"Bon Appétite, I hope you like it Lily." I clinked my fork with his "I already know I will."


	7. VII

•Wilbur•

The meal turned out to be a complete success, according to Lily that is.

It was nice having her here. My whole flat felt a lot less empty, and I felt a lot less lonely. Yea, I still had my friends that would pass through, everyone on twitch and online I had met over the years, but the physicality of the whole situation filled a gap in my chest.

With the plates resting on the coffee table, we were now sitting on the couch watching TV. My YouTube recommended popped up and she was quick to point out what she wanted to watch.

"You like Minecraft too!?" She exclaimed beside me bouncing up a bit in her seat.

"Yea, of course! Who doesn't." I replied scrolling few a through until I hit one by Schlatt. Yea, she'd probably enjoy him. I made sure to choose it since I wasn't in it, I didn't want to tell her I was a somewhat popular streamer, not yet anyways.

We laughed at his antics, mostly when he was shouting into his funny mic. For another hour or so we cycled through videos of his, Travis, or anyone else in their group.

I peaked at the clock.

_12:48 AM - September 2, 20xx_

I hadn't heard Lily speak in a bit, so I glanced over at her. She was barely awake, dozing in and out and swaying closer to me and jolting up every so often. Soon she completely succumbed to her exhaustion and leaned against me fully.

_What am I supposed to do now?_

_Should I wake her up?_

I decided against it, she'd had a long trip and even longer day it'd just be mean to wake her up now. I slowly leaned her off of me to stand up so I could pick her up and carry her to my room to sleep.

It was a struggle trying to open up the door - I didn't know I could open a knob with my elbow and turn the light on but hey, I did it!

I laid her down in bed and pulled the covers up to her chin, making sure she'd be comfortable. I couldn't help but smile watching her adjust and settle, going back to her deep sleep.

I grabbed a spare pillow from my closet and shut the light and door behind me.

The couch wasn't ideal, but it was better for Lily to be comfy while she's a guest here, I was mostly hoping neither of us caught a cold from being out in the cold.

I sat on my phone for a while before falling asleep, scrolling through unread discord conversations, replying to texts, wasting time on twitter - you know the usual. I decided to tweet something, a bit vague but I didn't understand exactly what I was feeling after today

_WilburSoot_

_I think I really like flowers after today :)_

I pressed tweet, thinking not much of it. Sleep started to hit me after realizing the extent of my body exhaustion, I'd probably take a shower in the morning and do whatever I wanted for the rest of the day since I didn't have to stream till later on in the night.

Taking a deep breath, I felt my body get heavy and my thoughts wander. Before I fell asleep I peaked my eyes open at the front door.

_She had 2 full suitcases of clothes and I still gave her mine to change into, and even better neither of us noticed._

It's safe to say that I slept with a grin.


	8. VIII

•Lily•

Ah, the sun shining on my face from partly closed curtains, the scent of mint next to my nose and coffee right outside the door, the bed felt like it was almost too comfy to be my own.

I shot my eyes open in realization that

_Shit this isn't mine._

_Where the fuck am I?_

A wave of memories hit me while I sat up groaning at the sunlight now hitting me directly in the eyes. _This must be Wilbur's room, he must've carried me here when I fell asleep._

Wait- _carried me?_ I can- feel my face turning red but I don't know why, he couldn't have done that, I probably don't remember walking there that's all. I run my hands over my face quickly and turn to sit, about to get up.

I do a quick scope around the room. From the bed there's two tables on both sides, a few picture frames hung around, a desk with a computer on one end, with a clock at the opposite wall. It was a pretty good size bedroom from what it looked like from the outside. I decide to finally get up, taking off Wilbur's sweater that made me feel hotter in the face than I should be and folding it neatly on the bed.

I followed the scent of coffee I'd noticed a few moments prior and followed it out the door, it soon being accompanied by bacon and something else I couldn't put my finger on.

I got slight déjà vu from the sight I saw as I turned the corner. Just like last night, Wilbur's back turned to me as he shuffled around the stovetop, this time sipping on a cup of coffee occasionally. He was a bit disheveled and his hair was completely unkempt. It was kinda cute in a way.

I could get used to this. _Can my brain just stop thinking for once what's wrong with me today._

"Good morning Wilbur." I said, yawning, coming closer to where he was and sitting at a stool by the kitchen counter. This time he didn't jump, he picked up a separate cup from his own and set it in front of me.

"Good morning Lily, I guessed that you liked coffee so I made you some." He said, thankfully he didn't put anything in it, just plain black coffee how I liked it. It seems like he liked his the same.

"I do, thank you! What are you cooking there? More chicken alfredo?" I joked and he let out a little laugh.

He started placing what he cooked on two plates "Sadly no, as much as I know you'd want another plate of that. Pancakes and bacon, if that's good with you." He put the plate in front of me along with a bottle of maple syrup. "There's extra if you want more, you're probably still tired and hungry from yesterday."

"It was delicious though!" I picked up my fork and started eating, it was ridiculous how good this guy was at cooking, not that I'm complaining or anything. He sat in the stool right next to mine, bringing his plate over and starting as well. About 30 minutes of small talk and two plates later for each of us we were full. Wilbur stood and collected our plates and empty coffee cups.

He set them down gently in the sink before looking at me smiling. "Now for the important question, the critics consensus..." he paused "how was it?"

I giggled at his dramatic questioning before pretending to be serious. "Hmm, the presentation, flavors, and complementary flavors of the beverage..." I paused for dramatic effect. "I think I'm going to have to give this one a ten out of ten!"

He let out a cheer and thanked me, throwing both his hands up before we both fell into a fit of laughter until we were just smiling at each other. He spoke up after a bit.

"I was thinking to take a shower and afterwards I can help you find you're flat and everything since the rain has finally stopped. If that's okay by you of course?" He said

I subconsciously frowned, I was having such a fun time with Wilbur I forgot I was actually here for school. I met my first friend and I felt like we clicked so well. "I don't want this to be over yet..."

Wilbur's voice shook me out of my thoughts. "Don't worry, we don't have to leave right away, I- um honestly don't want this to end either." My face lit up red realizing that I'd said the last part out loud, it made me smile knowing he was feeling the same way though.

"I'm gonna hop in the shower, we can plan a day out when I'm done so start thinking Lily!" His voice raised as he rounded the corner and entered the bathroom with a _click_. After a few seconds I heard running water and leaned forward onto the counter I was still sitting at.

I should probably call an administrator here and ask for the status of my flat, seeing as I'd be doing that eventually today. I looked on the website for the proper number and pressed dial.

"Hello! Thank you for calling the housing office of XXX University! How can I help you today?" A cheery woman's voice said on the line as it was picked up.

"Hi, my name is Lilian Stafford, I just transferred from the U.S. Campus to the London campus, I was just wondering the status of my flat?" I said, waiting for her response and hearing the clicking of keys over the line.

"I'm sorry hun, but I'm not seeing anything registered under the university operated flats, seeing here they registered you for an out of campus flat but charged you to stay on campus." I could literally feel my brain falling apart while she spoke each word, my jaw completely dropped. "I can get that money refunded for you right away since there's no available flats for this coming school year. How does that sound?"

I was grateful this woman knew what she was talking about, or I'd be completely screwed. A million thoughts raced through my head, how could they possibly have fucked up something as important as my living arrangements, when I'm signed up to come to a completely new country. I took a deep breath and replied.

"Yes, th-that would be great, Thank you for your help ma'am." She replied quick, still typing away at what I assumed to be the refund to my account. "No problem hun, that money should be back in your account within the next few days, sorry about the mix up." She said and hung up before I could say anything else.

Now here I sat, pretty much homeless in London, _unless I counted going to class as home._ My head pounded as I went to go sit on the couch with my head in my hands and contemplate my next move. If I told mom she'd be pissed that the school for screwing me over, but pissed at me for not making sure everything was clear before I came.

I heard the water in the bathroom come to a stop. _I guess Wilbur doesn't have to escort me anymore, just kick me out._

I didn't realize he'd come out of the bathroom until he spoke out. "Hey who were you on the phone w-" he cut himself short as I looked up at him on the verge of tears. He was standing in front of the coffee table in the sweatpants he was wearing earlier and a different gray t-shirt with his hair sopping wet, almost like last night.

"Woah, woah, what happened?" He rushed over to my side on the couch and placed his hand on my lower back like he had the other night. It was comforting in this shitty situation.

"Guess who doesn't have a place to live." I tried to joke but just ended up egging on my tears. I ended up explaining to him while my sobbing got increasingly worse as I leaned into him. "My stupid self di-didn't make sure to look at my housing a-and now I'm homeless in fucking London." Wilbur let me cry into him and told me to take deep breaths.

After I had calmed, he wiped my tears with his thumb and sat silent for a while until hesitating.

"Well..."


	9. IX

_"Well..."_

•Wilbur•

I don't even think I processed what I was about to say but it came out of my mouth anyways.

"You can live here with me." I said softly, she looked up at me with the most hopeful stare.

"Really? You'd let me?" She said with a smile following her words, I nodded. She jumped into my arms and hugged me tightly. I fell back into the couch hugging her back just as tight. I think I just saved her a whole lot of trouble. She rambled into my shoulder as she held onto me.

"Oh, thank you Wilbur! I'll pay rent and clean and do anything you need! Literally anything, you can cook though I like your cooking more and-" All I could do was laugh in between before she ended up tiring herself out after a minute. We sat back up as I thought what to do next.

I glanced at her suitcases still sitting by the door. Good thing I have a guest bedroom so she doesn't have to sleep on the couch for a year.

"How about we do something about those bags?" I stood up, extending my bent arm towards her. "Shall we, Miss Lily."

She giggled and bounced up next to me, taking my arm. "We absolutely shall Mister Wilbur."

I brought her to the closed door of the guest room. I felt like I hadn't opened it in ages, probably not since a few days after I moved in. There was nothing in storage inside, just a basic full bed, a dressers, a closet, a desk, and a side tables. More than a guest would need and I'd guess good for Lily. Sadly only one bathroom in the whole place, so we'd have to share that.

We'd have to learn how to share a lot of things really. Not that I never had roommates before, but none that ever lasted too long. Mates swinging in and out of the area for a week, my parents on very rare occasion, but other than that it was just me. I'm happy I didn't think before speaking this time, I had a feeling things would be getting a lot brighter. I wasn't sure about Lily's experience in roommates, but I guess we'll get to that some other time.

"This is perfect! Did you pick out the stuff in here?" She asked, referring to the furniture, I nodded before leaving the room to get her stuff while she did a peak around.

I responded from the living room "Yea! Mostly cheap IKEA furniture and little decorations I couldn't fit out here." I brought the bags to the guest, well _her_ , room and set them down next to the dresser, her backpack on the bed.

She had pulled out all the empty drawers and opened the closet, now spinning around in the desk chair and stopping as I came in.

"You can do whatever you want in here, one day this week we can go out and get some stuff if you wanna change it around." I struggled out the last part as I heaved her bigger suitcase onto the bed so it'd be easier for her to unpack. "Jesus what's in there?"

"Honestly, I only packed a few days ago but I don't even remember." She tapped on the top of the suitcase before going for the zipper. She pushed open the top and it seemed to be a mix of chargers, clothes, electronics, and other things. I didn't want to seem nosy or see something I wasn't supposed to, so I turned towards the door.

"So, um, I was thinking about going to the store while you unpack." I pulled my phone out of my pocket and open notes, handing it to her. "Type out whatever you want food or anything else wise."

She hummed in response and paused between each thing she typed before handing it back. It wasn't a long list, an even mix of snacks or fruit, assuming she'd leave the actual making of food to me.

I didn't mind one bit.

"Here!" She said, right as I was about to go and put my shoes on. She handed me about £50. "Use this. Please."

"Lily..." I didn't want to use her money, I felt as though she was still my guest, but she insisted.

"Please Wil, it's the least I can do." She used those pretty brown eyes to persuade me, it was not my fault I gave in.

_Wil. I quite like that._

"Alright, but not again. I'll be back in a bit." I said smiling to her as she went back to rifling through her stuff.

I took my wallet anyways, just in case.

•

It took me around 30 minutes to walk from the store in back, with a list I was able to get everything together really quickly and get out just as fast.

I opened the door just as the night before, bringing the groceries up the stairs through my actual front door and to the kitchen.

"I'm home!" I shout into the flat, hoping Lily heard me as I begin putting away the groceries. I stocked up just enough for about 2 weeks, that should hold the two of us over, right? Finishing off, I go to see how she's doing.

I do a quick knock on the door and hear a "Come in!" from the other side. Upon opening the door it looked completely different. Furniture rearranged, new blankets and decorations around, still clothes to put away but mostly done.

"It looks great! Incredible! Amazing! Spectacular!" I said enthusiastically, going to pull her in a tight hug. She laughs and hits at my back "Hahaha stop! It's not that great, it's all thanks to you." I smile down at her as I pull back.

The closeness, the happiness, the domesticity of the situation starts to settle in at once I think in the both of us. Her cheeks flare up first but mine are soon to follow as I back away as, I would like to think, not awkward as I can.

"Groceries are put away and you're almost done, so what do you want to do next?" I said to her, she moved to sit on the bed she'd moved against the wall and leaned against it. I joined her when she patted the spot next to her.

"Hmmm let's see..." she tapped her chin a few times, fake thinking. "This is kind of childish, but 20 questions? I don't think we know much about each other, besides that we don't like the rain." I laughed as she said that and nodded in agreement.

"Alright me first, what's you're last name?" I turned cross-legged to her on the bed and she did the name as she answered "Stafford. Now you." "Gold, your turn."

"What's your favorite color?" "Blue, now you." "All of them"

"Favorite instrument?" "Piano. Go" "Guitar, since I play."

"Social security number- just kidding favorite animal!" I fell back as she said the first part and groaned trying not to laugh.

"037-" She started hitting my arm in response. "No! Wrong answer! That's not an animal!"

I laughed and gently hit her hands off of me. "Okay, okay, orcas. Go."

"Cats! What do you do for a living?" She asked next, skipping my turn, probably to save the rhythm of the game.

"Well I'm a part time student and I-" I paused for a moment.

_Should I lie?_

No, definitely shouldn't lie.

_Should I say I don't have a job?_

No, that's dumb, how else would I be living here.

_Should I just not say anything at all?_

This is probably the worst option out of the rest.

"It's complicated actually, I'm kind of a digital t-technician...a commentator of sorts!" I tried to piece it together without actually having to say that I spend hours a week streaming to people that collectively gather to watch me laugh at videos.

She looked at me with her face scrunched up. "What do you mean?"

I sighed, here goes nothing I guess. She'd have to find out sooner rather than later.

"I'm kind of, a full time twitch streamer?" I looked at her uncertain, nervous for her reaction.

Her face lit up.


	10. X

•Lily•

"No way! Seriously?" I exclaim, looking at Wilbur brightly. That's like a dream job, he had to be kidding.

"Yea, I'm totally serious. I just hope you don't mind cause I'm usually up pretty late when I am streaming." He said, rubbing his neck and looking away at the wall.

"I don't mind at all! That's so cool honestly!" I thought for a moment "Wait what about that guitar though?"

He laughed shyly "Oh that, it's mostly a hobby and for extra cash I sometimes do gigs and weddings and stuff. I was actually coming home from a wedding when we bumped into each other."

I nodded my head, intrigued by his seemingly busy life. I could barely get off a plane, let alone entertain thousands of people on and off screen.

"You're really incredible Wilbur, you sound so good at so many things." I smiled and blushed at the compliment I gave him, looking down into my lap.

"That's sweet of you Lily, thank you." he walked over and placed a hand on my hair, causing me to look up at his also red face.

We shared a moment of silence before i broke it.

"So does that mean you have minecraft videos too?" I grinned at him and he slapped his hands over his face, groaning.

"We don't have to watch those!"

"Yes, we absolutely do!" I got up towards the door, tugging his arm towards the living room until he reluctantly followed.

I handed him the remote. "Look it up! Please!" He took it and plopped on the couch.

"You know, it's getting late. I realized I'm suddenly extremely tired."

"Wil, it's 5:45 it's not that late."

"Yes, I'm very old and frail and I can't-" he proceeded to drop the remote on the group "Look up any-" then slumped down into the couch "of my content. Oh no, I'm asleep."

A loud fake snore caused me to break down laughing, going over to hit is chest to 'wake him up'.

"I need content! Give me content!" he gasped awake and sat up.

"Content you say, well if you really insist." He picker up the remote from the floor and began typing in what I guessed was his twitch name.

_Wilbur Soot, huh?_

_I could've sworn I've heard that before._

"Here, let's watch this one." The volume was loud, and the whole time I could barely hear from how much I was laughing. It was a video of Wilbur and the guy we watched last night, Schlatt, playing sky block but with no blocks.

•

A few hours later of binge watching various videos, I was leaning up against Wil's side and giggling at all the jokes he made on screen, listening to explain his favorite moments and clips with his friends. It was really nice.

My phone dinged and I picked up from the table, then leaning back into him. It was an email from my University. Upon opening it, it read;

_Dear Miss Lilian Stafford,_

_Congratulations! Your refund has been processed and added to your account. We're sorry for the inconvenience. As a reminder, classes will begin next week, please remember to be prepared and have fun! We look forward to having you on our London Campus!_

_This is an automated message from XXX University._

I tossed my phone back on the table and threw my head back in a groan. Wilbur looked at me and patted my head.

"What was that about?" He asked "My refund went through and classes start next week. I don't even have school supplies let alone know how to get there."

He brushed through my hair subconciously before speaking.

"I'll show you around the area tomorrow and we can get your stuff if you want." He laughed a bit to himself and continued "You can't go bumping into someone every time you're out."

I grinned and hit at his arm lazily at his comment. It's not _my fault_ he was standing in the middle of the sidewalk in the rain.

"Shut upppp, I'll get the hang of everything as long as you help me."


	11. XI

•Lily•

It's been about a week since Wilbur allowed me to live with him, but he doesn't like me wording it like that so _moved in with him_ , and it's been pretty great.

Living on my own in the states made me forget how nice it is to have a presence around all the time and Wilbur's was especially more than invited. We had a good dynamic going, he'd stream most nights after we'd hang out for most of the day, I'd make lunch, he'd make breakfast and dinner when he could. It was nice to have a system- nice to have company. More than adjusted to my room, I started personalizing it more and more.

The day after I'd received my refund, Wilbur gave me a tour of the whole area by our flat and what felt like every inch of London, I got my supplies and some new clothes and it was generally a nice time to be out in the sun compared to rain.

Now I sat in the living room in the middle of the night, close to 10:30 I could tell by glancing at the electronic clock next to the TV. I was sitting upside down, you know, as most people do when they're bored out of they're mind.

I sighed deeply and looked at the details of the coffee table that my eyes lined up with in my position.

Wilbur was getting ready to stream I was pretty sure, and I hadn't had dinner yet. Maybe I'll make us both something? Yea, that should ease my painfully bored thoughts.

I went to the kitchen and opened every cabinet containing food, nothing truly catching my eye until I spotted some shrimp in the now open fridge. I snatched it out and placed it on the counter when I went to go look for the linguini he had just recently bought last at the store.

Where the hell is the pasta?

I shuffled through drawers and cabinets and it was no where to be found. I washed off the shrimp in the sink, placing a pan on one burner with some olive oil and seasoning, placing the shrimp in the pan to begin cooking once I asked Wilbur where the damn pasta was.

I went from the kitchen to the hall where his door was, I leaned my ear against it and tapped a light knock when I didn't here any noise from the other side.

Starting as I opened the door, "Hey Wil, where'd you put the linguini? Wait!-" I slapped my hand over my mouth, my eyes popping out of my head.

He had his headphones covering one ear and his stream was up on his computer, lucky it wasn't in view of the door frame so his camera couldn't see me.

He looked towards me smiling. "Oh yea that, it's in the cabinet closest to the fridge towards the back."

"Are you streaming?" I loudly whispered to him, worried I'd ruined what he was doing.

"Yea, wanna come say hi?"

"No! Oh my god I'm sorry I interrupted!" I said back to my normal voice nervously and retreating back to the kitchen to cook the pasta, all while Wil laughed at me as I slammed the door behind me.

I continued to listen to Wil as he went along with his stream until I could hear it no more.

"That's my flatmate! Just recently moved in-"

His voice trailed off and now I only heard the sizzle of shrimp and finally finished the meal after boiling the pasta. I put half into a bowl for me and a bowl for Wilbur.

I cleaned up and picked up Wilbur's bowl with a fork in it, knocking louder on his door this time before peeking in.

I walked in, both his headphones on this time and placed the food on his desk, he smiled up at me warmly.

"Lily no way! This looks delicious!" He picked up the bowl and showed it to his stream, placing it right in front of the camera. "Chat look! Gordon Ramsey is my flatmate!"

"Shut up!" I said in a joking tone and blushing unintentionally, looking at him as he made a motion for me to come on camera to show his chat. I hesitated for a moment and he mouthed to me _'you don't have to'_. I smiled and bent down to come into frame and leaned my head on his shoulder.

"Hey chat!" I said shyly. Wilbur leaned his head against mine and it seemed like his chat at almost picked up steam.

_User9483:_

_WOMAN????_

_User5843:_

_Wilbur and Lily? Is that her name?_

_User1034:_

_GIRLFRIEND!!!!_

_User2945:_

_Simp Simp Simp_

I giggled a bit at the ones I saw before getting up to leave, I held Wil's face with one hand and spoke.

"Goodnight, don't stay up too late or you're gonna be exhausted tomorrow."

I felt his cheeks move to a smile in my hand. "Okay, I won't. Goodnight Lily."

I took my hand away and said a bit loud, "Goodnight chat!" before leaving.

As I was walking away I heard a comment being read in a robot voice.

_Wilbur stop being a Simp on main_

"I'm not a simp!" He shouted, and I shut the door behind me.

I giggled quietly to myself, leaning against the door then abruptly thinking about what I just did. Oh my god.

_What's that going to look like to his viewers? Like I'm his girlfriend?_

_I wouldn't mind but-_

_No! No that's stupid! Just moved in and what do I think I'm doing, who do I think I am?_

_It's his fault for being so charming looking, even at almost 11 at night. He didn't seem to mind either, what am I overthinking about._

I shake my head to clear my brain before going to eat my dinner then get ready for bed. I could hear him still talking in the other room as I laid in the comfy bed, taking in a deep breath and grabbing my phone to do a quick check of his stream.

He was taking bites in between playing to eat what I'd made, comments still rolling in, a bit slower than earlier.

_User2567:_

_Bring! Her! Back!_

_User6543:_

_Wow your standards are low huh Wilbur_

_User2348:_

_Is she what he meant by the flower tweet?_

I caught myself frowning at the second one I read, shoving it to the back of my mind because they're just internet trolls. But wait, flower tweet?

I pulled up his twitter, seeing his tweet from a week ago about liking flowers mixed in with his recent content. I went back to the stream, clicking the donate button and typing in my message with €5 attached then clicking confirm.

It was read out on stream a moment later.

_SillyLily26:_

_You really are a simp, huh Wilbur? ;) - Lily_

You heard it read and shut off the stream on your phone a moment later. You heard a loud "What!" from the other side of the wall.

"Lily! Not you too!" He yelled at you, banging the wall lightly so you could hear thumps on your side. You laughed loud enough for him to hear as you imagined him pressed up to the wall to yell at you, he couldn't make you stop smiling as you closed your eyes and drifted off.

_Cute._


	12. XII

•Wilbur•

I ended the stream a little after 1 am, it was a long one for sure but I feel like I owed it to everyone for not streaming for almost a month. Opening up discord, I clicked on the server which had some people from SMP live, only Schlatt and Carson were online.

_ Schlatt: _

you've decided to join at the perfect time Wilbur

_ CallMeCarson: _

_the perfect time indeed_

_WilburSoot:_

_what do you need gents?_

I leaned back in my chair at the confrontation I was about to face, no clue what it could be about. A new chat bubble soon appeared.

_Schlatt:_

_you got a girlfriend living with you and yet you still have your bed in Minecraft next to mine_

_CallMeCarson:_

_no schlatt thats not the question_

_ Schlatt: _

_it may not be yours but it's mine_

I stared at my screen in confusion, I definitely didn't have a girlfriend, I barely even talk to women and- oh...

I'd completely forgotten Lily had shown up on my stream earlier in the night.

_ WilburSoot: _

_oh you mean Lily? She's just a roommate definitely not a girlfriend, not that I like her like that or whatever. she's nice and she's pretty, funny too_

_Schlatt:_

_Wilbur_

_WilburSoot:_

_you guys would really like her, I just met her a few days ago_

_CallMeCarson:_

_don't have a stroke now Wilbur_

_Schlatt:_

_wait, a few days ago?_

_ WilburSoot: _

_yea she just moved to London for University_

_CallMeCarson:_

_and you just let her live with you like that?_

_WilburSoot:_

_of course, she doesn't have anywhere else and it's nice having her company_

_CallMeCarson:_

_just be careful man, you know how fast people can get the wrong idea. twitter is nuts right now_

I sunk back into a realization, Lily could receive a lot of hate, have her social media tracked down. I didn't even think it all the way through I just was trying to show everyone how pretty she was. What? How pretty the food was, that's it- I think.

_Schlatt:_

_anyways you must be bringing her to twitchcon right?_

Groaning, I rubbed my face over my hands. I forgot twitchcon too? Jesus what's wrong with me lately, I was thinking straight a few weeks ago.

_WilburSoot:_

_can you guys hop on a call quickly?_

A call came on my screen moments later, Schlatt and Carson's faces now in front of me instead of their names.

"I completely forgot twitchcon was a thing." I said immediately, propping my elbows on my desk, leaning my head into my hands.

"C'mon Wilbur it's an easy fix, just get her to buy a plane ticket, you can probably get her a guest pass, and make her get a room." Carson said, matter of factly. Schlatt shook his head.

"Who says she even wants to go Carson?" he said in response, before I spoke up. "I'm sure she'd like to come but I don't want her paying for everything, she just started University too. What's she gonna do then?"

We were all silent in thought.

"Which University Wilbur?" Carson asked, I replied and heard the clicking of keys and a mouse. "Ha! XXX University European courses begin in October, she has no commitments right now. She has to go!"

I drew my eyebrows together "Why do you guys want me to bring her so bad?" I asked

"I don't know man, the more the merrier I guess. I doubt she wants to be stuck with you all the time." Schlatt shrugged and laughed at his own joke, I looked at him with a bored expression.

"I'll have you know Schlatt, that I'm extremely funny and she enjoys my company." I said sarcastically. Carson began laughing.

"What are you, her dad?" we all laughed a bit and I pulled up my information for the con. Clicking around I found a link to guest services for creators.

I leaned onto my empty hand "It says here I can bring her around as a guest, blah blah blah, accommodations, blah blah blah, twitch registry. That kind of shit."

"Just ask her in the morning Buddy then set it up then, get it done soon though." said Schlatt, leaning back in his chair and clicking through something on his computer.

I nodded my head and minimized the page. I looked at Carson, an upset look on his face while scrolling through his phone.

"Hey Wilbur, maybe you should say something next time you stream, or on literally any platform." he said.

Before I could ask why, he started reading something out.

"@CallMeCarsonYT save poor Wilbur from that thing, guys don't worry it was @CallMeCarsonYT in drag on Wilbur's stream, poor Wilbur has a whore in his house, 1 retweets and we eliminate the girl in Wilbur's stream, do you want me to keep going?" He listed them as though they went on for miles. My jaw was dropped, my hand covering my mouth as I listened.

"Are you fucking serious?" I asked in disbelief, how could anyone say those things about someone they didn't even know.

"Sadly. I have the same kind in my mentions." Schlatt answered, making me more upset.

I grunted in frustration. "I'm gonna go guys, I have some business to take care of I guess."

"Ok, good luck man." Carson said. Schlatt followed up with a "see ya, don't forget tomorrow morning." before the call ended and my screen was back to the previous text screen.

My brain literally hurt from how much I was thinking, I couldn't wrap my thoughts around it. So much disrespect for one sweetheart and no one could be adult about it. I clicked open twitter on my computer, creating a tweet and sending it out without a second thought.

Closing out of everything on my computer and shutting it down, I got up from my desk and wandered to my dresser. There was a small weight off of my chest, but I could still feel my agitation brewing, hopefully it'd be a better day tomorrow.

Hopefully Lily doesn't have twitter.

I stripped out of my clothes to get more comfortable, sliding on my softest PJ's and opening the door to my room. I walked down the hall to the kitchen for some tea. Stopping in my tracks as I passed Lily's room, I laid my hand gently on the wood of her closed door. _Why is this getting to me so bad, the internet is mean sometimes, why can't I get over it this time._

I huffed out a sigh and continued, quickly making tea and going back to my room to lie down and let my anxieties seep into my mattress. Flicked off the light, got under the covers, and took a few deep breaths. I unintentionally glanced at the wall separating Lily and smiled.

_Sweet dreams._


	13. XIII

•Lily•

Before I opened my eyes, I could feel warm sun beaming on my face. I turned away into my pillow and groaned while stretching out my body. I didn't feel as though I slept for long into the day so I decided to get a head-start before Wilbur was up and made my way out of bed to the bathroom.

My head felt heavy from a dreamless sleep, almost like I was restless. I began thinking of some of the things that were said about me last night from Wilbur's stream, I felt like I was just invading on his job right now. Causing more problems than I should.

The cold hardwood got me out of my thoughts and I opened my door quietly and did the same as I crossed the hall into the bathroom, shutting it behind me. I stripped my clothes off and tossed them on the counter, turning the shower on just barely as hot as it could go. I stepped under the stream, burning water getting me completely out of my worries.

He wouldn't have me here if he thought I was a nuisance, it's easy to find another place in London. He would've helped me look for someplace else if he wanted his space to himself.

_Why am I worrying with this shit now? I sound stupid._

I washed my body off quickly and stepped out, shutting the water off and glancing at myself in the steamed mirror. I took a towel and dried my hair quickly before wrapping it around my body.

Reaching for the door handle, it took me a moment to realize the knob was already turning and opening before I had a chance to stop it. The door opened to a sleepy looking Wilbur, squinting at the bright light of the bathroom.

He perked up, face flushing in embarrassment with eyes scanning over my covered figure quickly. He backed up and slammed the door shut just as fast as he opened it.

"Ah- Um sorry Lily! I didn't, uh, yea I'm gonna make breakfast!" I heard him shout through the door. My brain felt like it was using up all its steam, pressing a palm to my face I could feel it burning with embarrassment and exposure.

It's not like he saw anything. Just me in a towel, just barely exposed and not expecting a visit this early in the morning. I blinked a few times to ground myself back in reality. Peaking my head out the door this time, I headed back to my room as fast as possible and threw on some clothes that I had laying out from the day before.

I hesitated before going to the kitchen, better to get the awkwardness out of the way now than later.

Wilbur glanced back at me from his spot at the stove, his face flaring up in red again like it had before. He stammered out, "I'm really sorry about that Lily, I was so tired I didn't think you'd be up so early."

"No worries Wil, it was bound to happen sooner or later. We're both a dumb." I laughed out and he grabbed to plates to place our breakfast on.

"Dumb?!" He said before slamming the plate in front of me. "Does THAT look like something a dumb person could make?"

"Yes."

"You're supposed to say no!" pointing his hands at me in frustration, he laughed and grabbed his plate so we could eat together. Midway through, he spoke again.

"So last night I was talking to some friends, and I completely forgot that twitchcon was coming up in the next couple of weeks." I looked at him curiously, how was he gonna get there?

"What are your plans for it?" I asked, finishing off my plate and rounding the counter to place it in the sink before returning back to my stool.

"Well, I need to get you all signed up for it first since I already have myself done." he sounded slightly nervous saying it, I was confused.

"Me? You want me to go?" Processing what he was saying, I didn't have University until October so it's not like I couldn't go but would he really want me there?

He smiled warmly at me "Of course I want you to go, it wouldn't be the same without you. Plus, I get a free guest so it'll be easy to sign you up for everything." I felt a squeal come out of my mouth as I went to hug him quickly, making him drop his fork on the floor as I squeezed him tight around his waist. One arm came to hold my lower back and the other wrapped around my shoulders and he placed his head on top of mine.

"Think of it as a vacation before you start school." I could feel the smile in his voice.


	14. XIV

**•Wilbur•**

To say the trip to the airport was rough is an understatement.

What I've found out quickly in the time Lily has been living with me is that she's definitely not a morning person, and neither am I, but she's on another level.

We took the same path as when we first knocked into each other since it was so close that dragging our luggage was no problem. Passing through bag check and getting ready to board was simple, but the fact that Lily spoke of how tired she was the entire time was not a plus.

"Wil can we go yet, I wanna sleep."

"You've asked me that 4 times, it's only 10 am we have to wait till 10:15." I said back, patting her head as she leaned it on my shoulder.

She continued to rest on my shoulder as I pulled my phone out and went to text Carson.

_ Wilbur _

_Boarding in like 15, what's the address for the hotel?_

_ Carson _

_Change of plans, twitch offered us an Airbnb so we told them you'd join us. Hope that's okay_

_Unless you want the hotel still_

_up to you guys_

I thought for a moment and tapped Lily's head with mine lightly. "Hey, twitch got Carson and the others an Airbnb, you want to stay there?" She nodded her head against my shoulder, letting out a small "Mhm".

_ Wilbur _

_Lily's fine with it so I am too, send me the address when you get the chance_

With that said I closed my phone and put it in my hoodie pocket. Something always made me weirdly calm about airports in the morning. There weren't too many people in particular on our flight from what I could tell so our seating area was relatively empty. I soaked in the serenity of it all, Lily's head on my shoulder and I rested mine on top of hers, taking in a deep breath.

 _"Flight 4501 to San Diego is now ready to board. 4501 ready to board."_ said a loudspeaker, causing me to lightly shake Lily awake and grabbed both our carry ons so she wouldn't have to 'expend' anymore energy.

We handed in our tickets, and walked into the plane to our seats. She sat down first of course, lucky it was a two seater and our seats were together of course. I put our bags overhead, and soon after I sat next to her the plane began to take off.

_"Hello all passengers, you're now free to use your devices, enjoy your flight and thank you for choosing us!"_

I pulled out my phone along with some headphones and poked one into her left ear and my right ear. I began playing whatever playlist I had last listened to and began drifting off, all while I felt the weight of her head against my shoulder again. I was out like a light as soon as I closed my eyes.

•

I awoke to the plane just beginning to land. It felt as though the long flight had only lasted an hour or two, when in reality it was almost 15. Even when we had the stop in between, it didn't even feel like we had any delays. Thankfully we'd left a day before so we'd be getting there the same time or a bit after everyone was at the Airbnb.

Even after flying so much I still wasn't used to the turbulence that came when landing, and Lily obviously wasn't either. She woke a few minutes after me with a groan and a big stretch in her seat. Sitting up and cracking her neck. She turned her head to look at me tiredly, so cute. I shook the thought out of my head, I'm just tired, everyone's cute when they wake up anyways.

"Finally awake sleepyhead?" I said in a joking tone which she giggled at. She turned from me to look out the window.

"I honestly haven't slept that good in ages, your shoulder is quite comfy Wilbur." I blushed a bit at her statement. "Are we landing now?" she asked turning back and pulling out her phone to check the time.

"Yea we're going down now, should be another 5 before we can get off."

We chatted to pass the time, talking about her meeting everyone for the first time and having to be trapped with eight guys. I made sure she knew that Ted's girlfriend, Madi, would be staying there too so she wouldn't be completely miserable.

"I'm never miserable as long as you're there Wil, I'm sure it'll be great." I could see red brush her cheeks and not even a second after a woman's voice spoke.

 _"Thank you for flying with us, you're now free to exit the plane and collect your luggage."_ I let out a sigh and got up quick to get our carry ons so we wouldn't get stuck behind everyone while trying to get out. Lily followed after me as I motioned to head out.

Soon after we got our suitcases and ordered an uber, typing in the address Carson had given me and a few minutes later our bags were in the trunk. It felt like everything was happening so fast, not even regarding the trip.

I'd met this girl almost a whole month ago and now we're going on trips to Cali and sleeping on each other, I can't lie when I say it makes my heart skip a couple of beats. Now she sat next to me in the car, leg bouncing due to nerves and looking out the window at the scenery she'd never seen besides in pictures.

About a half hour later of chatter with the driver, we arrived. To say it was a big place would be an understatement, it looked like it could fit the 10 of us and more. We thanked the driver, getting our luggage from the back and made our way down the path to the mansion-like building.

I smiled at Lily who was behind me "Like a castle isn't it?" I said, she was practically jumping with excitement. I knocked on the door

"Almost a Disney movie, I'm not dreaming right?" she replied, I shook my head and heard the door squeak open quickly, cold air hitting me like the air condition had been on for hours.

I was about to look and say hi to whoever opened it before, who I recognized as Cooper, turned his head to yell into the house.

"THE LOVEBIRDS ARE HERE!"


	15. XV

**•Lily•**

What did he say? Lovebirds? What was that supposed to mean?

"L-Lovebirds?" I half sputtered, half laughed out.

The guy just laughed and moved to the side so Wilbur and I could step in side, setting our bags down as I turned to face him again. Him and Wilbur were already locked in a hug.

"Sorry just joking, I'm Cooper by the way, I bet Wilbur didn't even introduce any of us." He smiled at me and side eyed Wilbur.

"C'mon man I had a small window to work with." Wilbur groaned, brushing his curls out of his face.

He stuck his hand out and I laughed a bit, "I'm not hug shy, especially if we'll be living together for now." I leaned in and hugged him, hearing footsteps ascending from the staircase behind me. I pulled away and turned towards the steps as 5 people came down, one of them who I assumed to be Madi. I smiled warmly at them and looked at Wilbur who nodded his head for us to go greet them.

"Okay guys roll call, I'm Carson." said a really tall blonde guy with glasses

"Ted! and this is Madi" The other in glasses said and put his arm around the shoulders of the girl next to him. So I was right!

"I'm Noah, nice meeting you!" waved a brown haired guy and the last one with glassed did the same. "I'm Charlie!"

I went towards Carson and began giving him and the rest of them hugs while speaking out loud.

"So great to meet all of you guys, sorry if I seem nervous I've never experienced anything like this." I let out a small laugh and Carson shook his head.

"No worries, do whatever you want to make yourself comfortable this'll be the best week of your life, that's a twitch guarantee!" He said in a confident voice, Wilbur was now going and hugging them all, he soon spoke again.

"So where's Schlatt and Travis?" he asked. "Still sleeping, they got here late last night so they'll probably be up by dinner, it's 5 pm right now so it shouldn't be too long." said Noah, going to talk to Cooper who was now standing with the rest of the group.

Madi made her way towards me to give me another tight hug. "I can't even tell you how happy I am that you're here, I can't stand Ted." she said the first part quietly and the end loud to make sure Ted could hear.

"Hey- we're roommates, don't be mean to me." Ted said before Madi cut in "Ted I'm your girlfriend."

"Yes, what's the difference." Ted joked with a straight face, Carson spoke up again soon after, everyone else getting comfortable in the living room with beautiful white couches and a big flat screen TV.

"Ok so there was a situation with rooms, so there's only one left" he started and I quickly cut in "that's fine! I don't mind sharing a room."

"There's only one bed." he finished, and Wilbur let out an unintentional but confused, "Huh?"

Charlie chimed in, "Lily if you don't wanna share with Wilbur, you can take my room and I'll sleep with Wilbur." Cooper wasn't far behind with a joke to follow it up. "Aw man you like that Charlie?"

Everyone laughed, Charlie throwing his head back at his bad wording. I thought for a moment while everyone continued to crack jokes at his expense. I mean, it wouldn't be bad sharing a bed with Wilbur, we already shared a home. I slept on his shoulder on the plane, and many other times at home when I'd fallen asleep on the couch after a long night of watching TV.

Wilbur looked at me, for the first time since I got to know him I couldn't tell what he was thinking, he looked like he was hyper from nerves and laughing out of anxiety. As things calmed down I spoke up again.

"I think it'll be fine if we share, do you mind Wilbur?" I said as I grabbed his forearm and squeezed it in a form of comfort, looking up at him to try and convey _something_ to him. He nodded at me.

"Yea that's fine, I don't mind at all." Carson clapped his hands together at the confirmation and told us to grab our stuff to show us where the room would be.

"I told you guys they'd be fine, with the photos and everything. I knew they'd be okay with rooming together." Noah said to the group of them sitting on the couch.

Wilbur spoke up before me. "Photos? What do you mean?" they looked at us like we were coming from another planet.

"You know, the ones of you guys from the other day at the airport." said Ted matter-of-factly, pulling out his phone and tapping on the screen. He got up to go towards us to show us his screen.

"But we didn't take any pictures at the-" I began to insist before I saw the screen before me. I squeezed Wilbur's arm tighter.

There it was, a slightly grainy but enough to make out photo of Wilbur and I the morning we were about to board the plane for San Diego, there wasn't one, but about 5 pictures of us together that someone had taken. The first being him and I talking, then me leaning on his shoulder, his head on top of mine, him getting both our carry ons, and the last of my head leaning on his shoulder with headphones in _on the plane._

_How is someone even smooth enough to take photos like these without us noticing?_

I felt the unsettling feeling of being watched even though I was no where near the airport anymore, I slid out of the picture and read the caption. Apparently Ted had brought up the original post.

_beaniesoot_

_can't believe how lucky I got seeing Wilbur and Lily in the airport!! Didn't say hi cause I didn't want to bother but I think something might be up, those pics are proof enough_ 🥺 _so cute_

My mind racked itself for some kind of rational explanation. Why would someone take photos of us like that, why did it take us so long to find out. I took out my phone and pressed twitter, my notifications and followers were skyrocketing.

"Oh my god..." I said in a trembling voice, "How'd they find my account?"

"Seriously!" Wilbur exclaimed, leaning over my shoulder and looking at the tweets that were surfacing through tags and messages. Most being positive, some not so much. This was too much at one time, I expected people to find it, but not all at once.

Carson began to apologize "We thought you guys knew already, sorry that you had to find out suddenly like this, if there's anything you want us to say or tweet or anything." I just shook my head and let out a deep breath leaning back into Wilbur's chest. I leaned my head up and smiled at him, laughing a bit.

"I should've expected this."


	16. XVI

**•Wilbur•**

"Y'know, maybe it's better it happened now so you won't have to worry later?" Madi said in a questioningly comforting tone.

I kept looking down at Lily, still able to smile even though her social media and our "relationship" were exposed, if you could even call it that really. "Keep your head up, it'll blow over in a few days." I said, patting her head and looking back at Carson.

"Alright Carson, can you show us the room so we can get settled in?" trying to get the mood lighter than it had been previously, he nodded in response. We went over to our luggage and grabbed it, making our way to the stairs. I ended up taking a majority of Lily's bags.

"Okay, lady and gent, right this way!" Carson said over dramatically, a large wave towards the stairs as we followed in his footsteps, now seeing a long hallway with multiple doors on either side, assuringly some of the others bedrooms.

Carson began listing and pointing out who's room belonged to who. "Charlie, Cooper, Ted and Madi, Travis, my abode, then Schlatt's, and yours." Ours was the last door to the right, it opened up to bright white walls, a big bed, a dresser and closet, with a bathroom attached at one side of the room.

"This is gorgeous Carson! How'd you guys even swing this place?" Lily exclaimed with disbelief, putting her bags down to scope out the room in its entirety. I did the same and plopped myself down on the edge of the bed instead.

Carson shrugged "Honestly I don't know, ask twitch. Just asked if we could have extra rooms just in case there was anyone else tagging along and luckily this place did, nicer than being in a hotel spread out all week." She nodded listening to him, opening up the windows that lined the wall opposite to the door.

"Much nicer than the hotel, that's for sure." I said, laying back against the plush sheets and letting out a deep breath, letting my muscles relax after the events of greetings and freaking out had taken a toll on my body.

"I'll let you guys settle in, be down in like an hour or so, we're ordering dinner so we need everyones feedback." I replied with a quick nod and Carson left, shutting the door behind him. The room was now silent leaving just Lily and I. It was a different kind of quiet from when we were home.

I sat up, pulling my suitcase across the room to the dresser to begin loading some clothes in. "Hey I'll take right half and you take the left, wanna do the same with the closet?" I asked Lily, looking over at her.

She was looking down at her phone facing with her back turned to me, her fingers scrolled quickly through whatever was on her screen. I got up and as I did earlier, leaned over her shoulder to see what she was looking at.

All I saw was tweet after tweet.

_wilbursmic:_

_wondering why we didn't just hunt down_ **_sillylily26_ ** _sooner_

_1unchc1ubbb:_

_are you going to twitchcon then? if so please don't_

_callmewilbur:_

****_would've thought he'd get rid of you by now_

_schlattclub:_

_cute pics!!_ **_sillylily26_ **

_User9483:_

_WOMAN???? STILL????_

I shook my head at her notifications as she clicked through them at a lightnings pace, reading each carefully but just going onto the next with no expectation if it'd be good or bad. I grabbed the phone from her hand and hit the power button, throwing it on the bed.

"Wil I was-" she started, looking up at me with a frown and glossy eyes. I cut her off by hugging her as tight as I could. The moment they find her account and they just tweet at her like it's been out forever.

"They don't like me too much" I heard her mumble into my shirt and I grunted back.

"Who cares, you're fuckin' perfect to me." pulling back I smiled at her, "now let's get these clothes away and go downstairs."

Nodding, we went to work, splitting our drawer space evenly and getting our stuff put away. We were done in less than 45 minutes. Laying down at the same time, we let out a huff of breath and looked at each other.

She smiled at me "That wasn't too bad, but when I was putting my stuff in the bathroom there was another door, so I think we're sharing with Schlatt."

"Oh that's fine, I'm sure it won't be any-"

"TRAVIS. GET UP BUDDY BOY." A loud New York accent screamed faintly from the hall, followed by banging.

We couldn't help but laugh hysterically, there was no one else it could be but Schlatt. Just as I was thinking that the door swung open.

"WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT?" He yelled at us, walking into the room as we sat up.

He looked over at Lily, going over to her quickly. "Oh god are you okay? Did the scary British guy hurt you? Give you shitty British food?" He asked her as they hugged.

"Nice to meet you too Schlatt." She said, still laughing. He came over and hugged me as well, patting by back as the click of a door was heard in the hall. "Good too see you Wilbur."

Footsteps made their way into our room as I pulled away from Schlatt.

"Oh hey! I know you!" Travis said in a cheery voice towards Lily, she giggled and hugged him as well, her face shining with joy after meeting everyone. I greeted him as well and made the suggestion to go downstairs to join everyone.

The three of them agreed and began walking down the stairs, Travis and Lily were the first one's to head out of the room while Schlatt hung back for a moment.

"You're _sharing?_ Mr. She's not my girlfriend" he said, grabbing my shoulders and whisper-yelling at me.

I brushed his hands off and shook my head, "It's not like that, there's no other place to sleep and she's fine with it." He raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"I swear!" I exclaimed hitting his arm. "Come on, it'll be fine, we already live together."

"But you don't _sleep_ in the same bed Wilbur. You know this week is the perfect time to take a chance on romance!" he said while nudging me as we began walking downstairs.

You know, it really might be.

I smiled at him, "You may be right Schlatt."


	17. XVII

**•Wilbur•**

Dinner was pretty good, we all came to the conclusion of getting pizza to avoid any complications for big orders from any other restaurants. It was getting to be late, especially in the sense we all had to be awake early tomorrow to get to the venue on time. We'd all had some dessert that some of the guys had bought earlier in the day, ice cream, cookies, the works.

Now I was in the bathroom washing up, putting on short and a loose shirt to get ready for bed. Lily was on the other side changing, or doing whatever she was doing _I don't know!_ I grunted and scrubbed my face hard with cold water, drying it roughly with a towel.

_It's gonna be fine, friends sleep together all the time. It's like a sleepover._

_I think I like her though, what if I make her fall off the bed? What if I grab her in my sleep? What if she grabs me?_

A light couple of knocks shook me from my thoughts, it was coming from the door that connected our room to the one next to ours. I cracked open the door to see Schlatt, peeking his eyes around the corner.

"Mind if I get washed up?" He asked and I moved to open up the door more so he could step in and use the counter space that was left.

We stood in silence for a bit before my nerves started to get the best of me. "Schlatt I really don't think I can do this." I stated in the most pathetic voice I've ever mustered.

"What do you mean? You'll be fine Wilbur." He quirked an eyebrow up at me, turning his face from where it was bent to the sink to look a me.

"No it's different." I said, lowering my voice slightly just to be sure, shaking my head and leaning against the wall. "I think I uh, like her? Something like that."

He let out a surprised laugh, brightly smiling at me. "That's great news! You finally caught along then, ha!" He stood up straight, patting my shoulder.

"What do you mean, 'caught along'" I asked him.

"You're not serious are you?" he shook his head at me in disbelief as I stared at him seriously.

"Schlatt I have no clue what you're going on about right now! Are you tricking me or something, I don't get it!" frustration getting the best of me, I rubbed my hands over my tired eyes for a moment.

He began making his way back to his room, turning towards me with his hand on the knob.

"It's painfully obvious she likes you Wilbur, like head over _heels_ likes you. Huh, I thought you were the smart one here bud."

With that, the door was closed and I was left with my thoughts once again. I stood in misunderstanding. She liked _me of all people?_ Dwelling on it would only make it more impossible to go back in there, so I forced myself to exit the bathroom as well.

Walking back into our room, Lily was standing to look out the window. She was wearing an oversized t-shirt and some shorts that just barely peaked out from the length of the shirt. Her skin looked like gold against the sunset shining through the glass. I felt like it was the first time I saw her again, like seeing an _angel._

She took notice to my footsteps, turning her head to me and smiled at me.

"Ready for bed?" She asked me, I could feel my heart sputter in my chest. _What the fuck is going on with me, this wasn't happening earlier._

I nodded. "Yea, I'm still pretty exhausted from the flight." I walked to the side of the bed, making sure my phone was charging and alarms were set for tomorrow morning. I heard the shuffle of sheets and the creak of the mattress.

"Oh my god Wil, the sheets feel like silk! Come on get in!" Lily said, now sitting in bed and pulling my side of the sheets back. I could see a light blush on her cheeks. She's probably doing the same I am, keeping the awkwardness of it all to a minimum.

I climbed in next to her. She was right like always, it felt a thousand times better than what a hotel would've been. We chatted for a little while after, getting comfy and laying so we were facing each other. She let out a big yawn after a while.

"Sleepy?" I asked her, she closed her eyes and nodded.

"Yea, still tired from the flight too, plus meeting everyone and the airport thing." she sighed out.

"It'll all be better tomorrow, I promise." I stuck my pinky out at her, she opened her eyes to look at me and giggled.

She linked her pinky with mine. "You're so silly Wilbur. Goodnight."

I smiled at her and moved to be more comfortable. "Goodnight, sleep tight don't let Schlatt bite." She let out a louder laugh and made a half assed attempt to hit my arm but failed.

Soon the room settled into silence, wind from outside heard through the windows but the warmth in the room starting to accumulate. It could've been just my nervousness, or maybe it was just hot, but I was practically sweating my skin off. I looked over at Lily, fast asleep with even breathing.

I'm sure she wouldn't care, _right?_ I sat up as carefully as I could to not stir her. I slipped my t-shirt over my head, tossing it at the end of the bed towards the end of my feet. Instant relief flowed over me as fresh air was hitting the heat on my chest and back. I laid back down carefully and got comfy, I'm just cooling off for a bit, in a few minutes I'll just put my shirt back on and it'll be fine.

**•**

My body felt heavy from how well I slept last night, I woke up bleary eyed with the sun hitting the wall above the bed. My alarm hadn't gone off, and I didn't hear any movement throughout the house from where I was so I guessed that almost everyone was still asleep or barely awake. I reached my arm out for my phone, finding it difficult to reach for it, my body felt so _heavy_ , probably from jet lag. I tried again, still unable to reach and a light scratching against my chest.

_Oh for christ sake no._

The weight was in fact _not_ my body but Lily's head resting on me. My stomach started twisting in knots, heart speeding up and breathing straining. Honestly, I don't think this would be as much of a problem if I had remembered to put my shirt on again last night but being the idiot I am, just passed out.

I sat and stared at her as I panicked silently. Should I just get up or maybe let her wake up on her own? Make a turn for it? Pretend to be asleep?

Actually, that last one didn't sound too bad. Despite the nerves running from the tip of my toes to the top of my head, I did my best to close my eyes once again and attempt to relax. No clue what time it was, and no clue when my alarm would go off, I just rested again.

Her weight was comforting and grounding, her cheek was warm against my skin. Once in a while her hair would tickle my neck or my cheek, but nothing I wasn't, well _couldn't,_ get used to.

I couldn't tell if it was just a few minutes or an hour later, but my alarm went off. I did my best to pretend I was asleep and waking up when she began to stir and soon I felt her eyelashes blink open.

I didn't know if she could hear how fast my heart was beating in the moment, but I hoped she'd move so I could avoid anymore embarrassment for the rest of the day. Her hand moved to rest on my ribs just barely above my stomach in a comforting gesture.

_This had to be too good to be true._

Lily's head moved to look upwards at me, in which I acted as though I'd been asleep for hours, leaning to turn the alarm off now that she'd moved a bit. Letting out a grunt, I looked down at her.

"Oh, ah- good morning." I said, my voice much more shaky than I wanted it to be. Her eyes we still squinting from sleep and she sent a sleepy smile up to me.

"Good morning Wil, sleep well?" she asked, I nodded back. I really couldn't figure out if she'd realized the position we were in yet, but that thought was soon put to rest. "Oh- shit!"

She sat straight up quick, suddenly wide awake and beet red.

"Sorry- I, uh, it was really hot last night so I tried to cool off a bit and passed out." I explained, my face matching hers. I stared in worry as I waited for a response. Honestly at this point I'd be surprised if she regretted not switching with Charlie.

Small chuckles came from her as she covered her face, she leaned back into the pillows and shook her head.

"I thought you were a fuckin' pillow for a little while." then she smirked at me. "You got pretty soft boobs huh?"

I cracked up with her at dumb joke a literally 5th grader could make. It was only funny cause it was her making it. Soon the worry cleared and we got up to get dressed and ready for some breakfast.

I really don't know how I'll make it through.


	18. XVIII

•Lily•

I can't believe my body had acted on its own or something last night. Cuddling up to Wilbur, how did I even end up doing that? Instinct? I don't even have enough energy to come up with an excuse for it right now.

Wilbur and I had taken our turns in the bathroom getting dressed and going downstairs to meet everyone in order to get to the venue by 10 am sharp. We piled into a car that Carson had rented to make travel easier in general. He was driving with Schlatt in the passenger seat, the second row was Charlie, Cooper, and Travis, and the third had me, Wilbur, Ted, and Madi squeezed in. I mean, if it works, it works right?

Thankfully, the ride was seemingly quick. Carson had made the smart decision to pick a place close enough to the venue that it wouldn't be completely out of the way. He parked and the rest of us got out row by row, my steps on the pavement feeling more like my feet were glued to the ground more than anything.

Taking a moment to regroup, everyone began walking towards what seemed to be the check in for creators, I still couldn't move. I felt like I didn't belong, out of all these wonderful, popular, people I was just the tag along. Couldn't be left alone in London and completely new to all of this.

"Lily?" A sweet voice called to me. I turned to it, realizing Travis had stopped while everyone else continued on. "Come on you can't get in from back there!"

He shot me a smile and nodded his head for me to catch up with him, I quickly moved from where I'd been thinking and soon started walking with him.

"Sorry, I just feel kind of...lost I guess." I said with a bit of a laugh.

"Don't worry I feel like that all the time! You'll be fine." He said with a humorous inflection. Thankfully he was such a light hearted person he made me feel better almost instantly.

I looked to our group ahead of us, Wilbur looking back at me amongst them, he waved his hand towards me to come by him. I guessed I'd be checking in with him then.

We all got our passes and were led behind the scenes by a guide of the con, passing most of the hustle and bustle of the actual con in the morning. The accumulation of voices just from far away told me this was kind of a big deal of an event. I was getting excited as we began to discuss what they all had planned for today.

I had the ability to mostly wander as long as I stayed in the vicinity of our group or another entrance to go behind scenes. Madi would most likely be with me most of the time as she was pretty much accompanying Ted. I was grateful, especially since the worry from the tweets and amount of people that seemed as though they didn't want me there was growing in me as I thought about it from time to time, having that kind of extra security eased me.

"Alright, I'm sure you're all aware of your schedules for the day, but just to keep everything in line I'll be back shortly with copies for all of the creators" the guide said leaving us in a waiting room as he left to get the copies.

"How're you feeling? We can leave if you want." Wilbur said to me, making me turn to him with a dumbfounded look.

"Are you stupid?" I replied, shaking my head and putting my thumbs up. "I'm fine, honestly. I'm feeling better than I thought I would."

A cheer from our group came from where my back was turned so I could face Wilbur, I turned my head over my shoulder to see another group consisting of 5 guys and a girl. The people from our group got up and greeted them, but Wilbur and I stayed put. He hadn't made a move to greet them so I decided it'd be better not to either until we were introduced or something like that.

I watched as they greeted each other saying their names. Mason, Matt, Toby, Jay, Swagger, and Fitz. The last two sounded a bit strange but I guess that was just how they liked to go by. I think Cooper made a point to mention me because the group of them looked at me over Cooper's shoulder where he was pointing with his thumb.

I smiled and waved quickly and turned nervously back to Wilbur who had a sour look on his face, seemingly looking at the Fitz guy.

I shook it off as I saw out of the corner of my eye that the guide was coming back towards us with a small stack of papers and getting our attention. With that he handed out the papers to those who needed it and gave the basic direction to "follow your schedules and you'll be fine."

With that I peaked at the first thing on Wil's paper.

"Meet and greet huh? That should be fun, wanna tag along for that?" He asked me, folding up the paper to put in his pocket and put his hand on my lower back as he guided me away from the group and to the entrance of the actual convention.

"Yea sure, sounds fun!" I replied, noticing the noise getting louder and soon the lights and energy of Twitch con surrounded my vision. My jaw fell open

"Welcome to your first con Lily!"


	19. XIX

**•Wilbur•**

From meet and greet to panel, the whole day was exhausting but so worth it. Seeing all the people that got me to the place where I was standing to having Lily experience it with me was so incredible.

The first day was always the most hectic, Lily was either with me or Madi, looking around and pretty much adjusting to things as they came and went. She was standing behind my booth during the meet and greet, head popping around the corner to see what was going on every once in a while. Thankfully, the fans that saw her were kind and waved, some even tried to get pictures with her too but she was far too camera shy to come close to participating.

Now the day was winding down and we had all just gotten home from the con. It was around 8 pm by the time we'd all left after chatting with people and grabbing some dinner. We'd all decided that we'd just head to bed early so we'd be better for tomorrow.

Laying in bed, staring at the ceiling, and just waiting for Lily to get out of the bathroom so we could go to sleep.

The door knob clicked and I saw the light change from across the room but I didn't look up. I just laid with my hands behind my head and shifted when the bed dipped.

"Thank you for showing me around today Wil." she said, her face hovering over mine and a crooked smile crossing her face from my view.

I nodded a bit at her "As long as you had fun, that's all that matters. Tomorrow will be even better cause you're kinda used to it."

_Her eyes staring down at me with her sweet smile just isn't fair. Why did the universe do this to me._

"Everyone loved meeting you Mr. Popular, you've _been_ used to it!" she said leaning her face closer to mine and poking a finger into my chest.

"Hey I'm not popular! You don't even sub to me on twitch Miss!" I wrapped my arms around her, fake tossing and wrestling with her as she tried to fight back.

"I don't have Amazon Prime! What do you want me to do!" She said between giggles and fake punches.

I finally settled down after a bit with my heart beating fast and her locked against my chest.

"Then you will pay for it with your life indebted to me." I sighed in a joking tone loosening my hold as we just laid together. I wasn't sure how much time passed, but she didn't make an attempt to move and eventually we passed out.

•  
  


Waking up the next day wasn't too bad, pretty much the same as the day before. Lily was still sleeping against me when I woke up and it felt so normal to just get up and start the day together. The same drive and peek at our schedules when we got there had us on the move in no time.

It was almost mid day into the con and I had a break from what I was supposed to be at next, so I walked with Lily for a while, just the two of us because everyone else was caught up doing their own events.

"I don't even understand half of these games Wil." she said, looking around like a kid in a candy store.

"I mean me neither, I play Minecraft and geoguesser. I don't know how Call of Duty works." I chuckled out as we turned a corner, spotting Fitz and Swagger in the corner of my eye. I tried to move swiftly to get out of their-

"Wilbur!" his cheery voice said. "Long time no talk buddy."

I put on the fakest smile I could in an instant.

"Hey Fitz, Swagger, how are you guys?" I pulled Lily by my side before she started wandering off, putting my hand on her lower back to guide her next to me.

"Good, good. Who'd you bring with you? I'm not the best at remembering names." Fitz said, casting a smile at her which was far too kind for my liking.

She piped up from my side. "I'm Lily, it's my first time at something like this. I'm happy Wilbur brought me along." She stuck her hand out at him which he took no time in taking, Swagger following close after.

"Well since you're here, might as well tell you. We're having a party at our Airbnb tomorrow after the last day." Swagger said, sticking his hands in his pockets to fish out his phone to promptly type something out. "The rest of your group will be there, why not come!"

I nodded, listening to him. I didn't think it was a good idea, but it was just one party so how bad could it really be. Lily would probably want to go too so I guess we'll tag along with everyone else.

"Cool, we'll see you there." Fitz said, both of them starting to move away. "Bye Lily." he nods her head at her and walks away.

She looks up at me, totally oblivious. "Well, he seems nice!"

"Yeah.." I reply and we start going back to the way we were going in the first place, my arm now around her waist.

I hope he's not up to anything.


	20. XX

**•** **Lily** **•**

"What's your problem with Fitz anyways?" I whisper to Wilbur as we slide into the back of the car, a few hours after the invite that the two of them had given us. Wilbur sends me a frown, and whispers back that he'll tell me when we're back home.

The drive home was slower than I'd liked for it to be. Wilbur was focused on whatever was on his phone and everyone in the seats in front of us were chatting it up, I tried to engage but I just couldn't.

I mean, nothing was wrong with Fitz from what I could see? Wasn't mean, wasn't disrespectful, I just couldn't wrap my head around Wilbur's curtness when he was around him.

The car came to a stop and we piled out. I went to our room immediately, passing Wilbur as I rushed up the stairs. I opened the door and once I heard it click behind me, I waited to hear Wilbur enter.

His heavy footsteps followed soon after with the door clicking open and I turned to face him, hands on my hips.

He immediately walked up to me, throwing his phone and jacket on the bed and hugging me tight.

"I don't trust him at all, especially around you." He said into my hair, resting his chin on top of my head while keeping his hold on me.

"But he didn't seem bad Wil, I don't get it." I replied, tried turning my head to look up at him but I was locked in place. Why is my heart beating so fast, and why could I hear his pounding equally as hard in his chest. 

He pulled back to press his forehead to mine and I felt a heavy weight on my chest, _what the fuck is going on?_ I closed my eyes so focus on the moment, I've never experienced anything like this in my life, especially with Wilbur. My roommate, my friend, my _whatever._

I don't _know._

Our faces were so close, the hug loosened to his hands holding the back of my head and my hands hovering his waist. His breath was so warm against my lips, I've never felt something so _normal,_ so-

"Please just trust me Lily on this one." He sighed "Please."

I nodded lightly, expecting the moment to be over, but we just stayed. I opened my eyes and peered into his. It was like he was inspecting every inch of my face that he could from the closeness we were in. I breathed out heavily, realizing I'd been holding my breath on and off every time the weight in my chest would become too much.

"Wil, can I..." without another word, our lips were locked together. It felt like my body was sparking and going numb at the same time. I held tight to his shirt in fear he'd disappear if I didn't latch on.

He pushed closer, his hands holding my head gently and putting more force where we connected. It felt like forever, the most feeling I've ever felt within myself.

We split, catching our breath while looking deep into each each others eyes. I couldn't help but smile at what just happened. Soon he smiled back and it turned into a fit of giggles between the two of us.

"YOOOO!" Voices yelled from the door, Wilbur and I whipped our heads to see Travis and Cooper standing in the doorway, Cooper's phone pointed at us. Travis was holding one of those whipped cream pies that you throw at people, they were probably setting up a prank on us.

They whipped out of our view running down the hall. Wilbur shot out quickly to follow them. He stopped before he left on his chase, he placed a hard kiss to my forehead with the biggest grin I've ever seen on his perfect face and I smiled right back while motioning for him to follow them.

"COME BACK HERE BOYS!" 

He sprinted out and I felt like my body was floating, I shut the door to change into some pajama's then wash up from the day.

I fell on the bed, hearing the yells and laughs from downstairs of Wilbur, Cooper, Travis, and whoever else was still up. I haven't felt this happy in so long, and now I'm not confused.

I _like_ Wilbur. A lot.

The kiss, being with him, laying with him, looking at him. I like everything about him and more.

Now our first trip together will end perfect with a party and heading back to London, living together, going out and cooking, all the things that we were doing before but elevated I guess?

Right as I started to doze off, Wilbur and Cooper came in, peering over me with my eyes half open.

"I'm SO sorry Lily I had no idea you guys would be up to anything crazy like that, especially when I was recording." Cooper said, his hair flopping around his head making it look like he had a bowl cut.

I shook my head, "No worries Coop, shit happens." I mumbled out. He held his phone over my face, showing me the video. It was shakey and fast, starting right when I had started talking and got cut off then ending with them yelling and sprinting away with Wilbur coming at them. I couldn't help but laugh at the timing.

"You should post it, that's pretty funny." I said, Wilbur's eyes widened and then he shrugged. Cooper nodded and walked away from where I was, "I mean, if I have your OK then I will, night you guys!"

The door clicked and then Wilbur and I were alone again, before I knew it he had taken his shirt off and collapsed on top of me.

"Ew get off! You're all sweaty!" I whined trying to push him off, making him hold me tighter.

He just laughed pressed more of his sticky body on mine as I struggled. "No, I'm keeping you warm! There's a difference." He said matter of factly.

I just shook my head and closed my eyes to try and sleep again. "You're lucky that you're you Mr. Soot."

"I'm lucky I have you Lily."


	21. XXI

**•** **Lily** **•**

The last day had come and gone and we were finally on our way to the Misfit's place for the party they'd set up. I thought I could hear the music blasting from down the street, even blocks away. The house vibrated from the amount of speakers and people that kept filing in, neon lights shining through the windows and reflecting on all the cars parked on the street and in the driveway.

I got out of the car, Wilbur following me out and reaching to hold my hand which I gladly let him do. He gave it a quick squeeze before we continued with the others to the front door.

"I am going to lose my god damn mind tonight!" Ted said confidently with Madi shaking her head dismissively at the comment.

"I'm with ya buddy!" Travis said, laughing and speeding up his pace, Cooper and Charlie doing the same and rushing through the door.

I glanced up at Wilbur, the sweet little grin that's always on his face showing and his eyes shining with excitement. I couldn't help but blush at the events that'd conspired the past few days. It felt different than just the start of a relationship, more like a bond.

"Lily..." Wilbur called my attention. "You know if you wanna go home anytime you let me know, okay?" I nodded and smiled at him. _So considerate._

With one step in the door, I felt like my body was vibrating from the bass of whatever song was playing. Wilbur loosened his hold on my hand and put it on my back, guiding me through to greet the people he recognized.

As one conversation began to end we would move to another, and another. Honestly I didn't think it'd be so tiring to meet people that everyone else already knew. I was the outlier that had to make their way into the circle that's already been formed for so long.

"Hey Wil? Can we get something to drink?" I asked as we wandered from room to room. 

"Of course, how about you wait here and I'll grab us something." He led me over to a less crowded corner of the room we were already in, leaning down to give my cheek a quick peck before going.

"Thank you Wil!" 

Only a couple of seconds after he left, I felt an arm slide over my shoulder. I turned my head quick to see who it was only for it to be a smiling Fitz with a drink in his right hand.

"How ya liking it so far?" He asked, I smiled back "It's fun! Just really loud, I don't know too many people." 

He nodded at me "I totally get it, hey let me give you a tour of the place." I was just about to butt in, saying I was waiting for Wilbur to get back, but I didn't get the chance. "I'll introduce you to people along the way." I guess I'd just have to find Wilbur later, he'd understand.

He used the arm on my shoulder to guide me forward and around another corner, talking loud enough in my room over the music so I could hear but not so he was screaming in my ear. He listed the rooms as we passed through and nodded at me in introduction every time someone new would stop to greet him. There were a surprising amount of living rooms and free 'party' space in it, before I knew it we were going upstairs.

"Another living room, game room, couple of bathrooms, couple of bedrooms-" There were so many people crowded in the hall I couldn't even see half of the things he was referring too, soon there was a clear spot we stepped into and stayed.

His arm moved from my shoulder and I took a deep breath and I blinked a few times, shaking my head in attempt to clear it. It seemed like we were in a bedroom, so untouched it looked like a hotel. Thinking this was the end of his tour, I turned to thank him and leave, eager to find Wilbur again.

All I saw was the door shut and him walking towards me, the drink that was once in hand now sitting on a desk by the door.

"Thanks for the tour, but I really should-" I cut myself off when his hands found my waist and grabbed me possessively. I felt my stomach roll, peering up at him, all too close to my face.

"You'll be bored out there, I'm just trying to make sure my guests have a good time." his speech was slightly slurred, breath tainted with a mix of alcohol. I put my hands on his chest to push him away.

"Uhm, W-Wilbur is probably looking for me." his features turned dark as he grabbed both of my hands with his right and backed me into the wall, the left leaning weight onto the wall where my head had just bumped against.

He laughed grimly "You'd rather be with that? He's like, the biggest wet blanket known to man, just stay here."

His insistence made me more and more nervous, I knew I couldn't get out of this without help and my mind was running to fast to form a clear thought.

"Fitz, I-I'm sorry but can you stop? I'm-" he cut me off again.

"You're what? Scared?" He sneered, pushing his face closer to mine, leaning down to look into my eyes.

"Come on baby, I'm a good guy. Remember?"


	22. XXII

**•** **Lily** **•**

Good guy? A _good guy?!_

His face only got closer and closer to mine, I could feel his hot breath ghosting over my face, the smell of alcohol coming from hi almost causing me to gag. I felt beyond stuck, but I could feel myself coming back to reality. I wasn't just going to stand here and take this shit, _especially_ from him.

I brought my right knee up hard, hitting him square in his crotch. He backed away and doubled over. Bringing my hands quickly down on his shoulders, I pushed him hard onto his back and bolted to the door.

Everything felt so fast, almost cliche. I struggled to unlock it as I heard him muttering words I couldn't even begin to care about listening to, feet hitting the ground to get himself stabilized again. I didn't even here the click of an unlock, just the feeling of the knob being able to finally turn and the gust of wind that came from the door swinging out of my way.

The neon lights hurt my eyes as they began to blur from panic and fear, I ran and pushed past people I didn't even get the chance of meeting, I saw a familiar tuft of curly hair by himself down a hall to my left and ran immediately to him.

My hand reached out to him and he turned to look confused at me.

"Travis- get me out of here." My voice cracked getting the plea out, he simply looked at me panicked which swiftly turned to determination as he locked his hand on my wrist and began to walk.

He led me out quick, passing by Cooper and Carson as we made a few turns and him telling them that it was time to go and meet by the car. I couldn't catch their expression. I kept looking forward scared that if I turned back he would still be following me somehow.

Before I knew it we were outside, considerably colder than what it was when we first got here. Travis kept his grip on my arm until it was assured we were far from the front door, basically at the car.

He turned and locked eyes with me, expression turning gentler.

"Lily...what the heck happened?" he asked softly, I couldn't even muster the words, a sob getting stuck in my throat. 

" Please," I just shook my head. "Get Wilbur."

He nodded back at me, I watched him walk away as Cooper and Carson came walking out, switching to a jog to get to me faster. By the time they did the tears I'd tried to hard to hold in broke through, rough sobs racking my body. I wrapped my arms around myself.

I hunched myself over before my forehead came into contact with a shoulder, peering down at the Vans connected to who it was.

"We're getting Wilbur, Lily." Cooper spoke, raising an arm to rest his head on the back of my head.

"Why- How can someone do something l-like that?!" I sobbed out, digging crescents into my arms. 

Another pair of shoes stepped into my view, a face coming into view as they crouched in front of me. It was Carson.

He peered up at me for a second before asking the same as Travis, "What happened Lily? Seriously, I've never-" 

I could hear yelling getting closer, footsteps approaching hard and fast against the front lawn.

"Where is she?" Thank God. "Why can't you just tell me what ha-"

Carson stood and backed up, making way for him. The third pair of shoes I'd look down on were finally the ones that I wanted to see. I lifted my head from Cooper's shoulder, looking up at him.

"Wil- he, I didn't know what-" I tried to say, unwrapping my arms from myself and reaching towards him, he quickly hugged me close, feeling as though I was completely encompassed by him.

I could feel his forehead pressed into the top of my head. "What happened darling, please, _please_ tell me." he requested, pulling back and placing his hands to hold my face.

My heart felt as though I was about to throw it up, nausea coming and going in waves as I still couldn't grasp what happened.

"I-It was Fitz, he was giving me a tour and then, I was so stupid I shouldn't have gone with him! But I- I just-" I stuttered out and looked in every direction except Wilbur's eyes.

He turned my face so I was looking at him.

"What happened, Lily? You need to tell us so we can help." He said more serious.

It took a beat for me to process what'd I'd say, but I couldn't sugar coat it.

"Fitz he," I paused, chest heavier than ever. "he locked me in a bedroom and tried to force me to...do stuff."

I've never seen anyone's eyes turn as dark as Wilbur's did when I said that.


	23. XXIII

**•Wilbur•**

"I'm sorry, he did _what?_ " I couldn't help growl out from the anger brewing in my chest. I always new there was _something_ about him that rubbed me the wrong way and this brought me to the brink.

I couldn't help but bring myself away from Lily, just barely shaking as I clenched my fist together.

"How fucking dare he! He fucking-" I yelled, turning around I began to storm towards the house with a feral ambition.

"Woah Wilbur you gotta relax-" Cooper started.

"Relax, are you _insane?_ He does that and I'm not supposed to break every _bone_ in him?" I continued on past him. I was stopped again.

"You can't just go in there and fight him Wilbur." Carson reasoned, putting a hand on my shoulder in a way to keep me from attempting to go further.

I shook my head at him, almost laughing. "Yes I fucking can Carson, don't even pretend you can try and tell me-"

"Wilbur just stop and _think._ " He cut me off. "If you go in there, fight him, maybe beat the shit out of him, think about what's gonna happen to your reputation. Everyone's gonna talk."

"So, then I'll tell them what he did! I'll tell them that he, he _hurt_ her- he hurt Lily!" I grabbed the wrist that was holding me back, squeezing, trying to get my point across.

He sighed. "Is that what she wants Wilbur?"

I looked back at Lily, trying to make herself look small with tear tracks on her face, standing next to Travis who'd made his way over to comfort her. She locked eyes with me blearily and shook her head. I couldn't tell what the right and wrong decision one.

It was reasonable to beat the shit out of Fitz, to do that to Lily, maybe to someone else even, I couldn't bare to physically let myself rest without breaking something. On the other hand it was also reasonable to do as Lily wished, make her comfortable, do anything she wanted. Anything she'd ask for I'd do for her.

I turned back and stuttered, not being able to form what I really wanted to say in the moment.

"He deserves it, Carson." I felt tears of frustration building in my eyes as I itched to move closer to that front door and do what I know should be done.

Carson just sighs, changing my direction towards Lily again with a push of the shoulder.

"I know."

I walked back over to Lily, taking my thumbs and wiping the tears that continued to fall. I couldn't help but hug her again, I didn't know what else to do other than comfort her and suppress the urge to fight that I'd already been advised not to do.

"Hey hey! What did we miss, night's still young and- uhhh" I recognized Ted's voice from where he was coming from, most likely the front door. Lily peeked over my shoulder to see who else is there.

"Madi, Schlatt, Noah, and Charlie are with him too." she whispered into my ear, pressing her forehead into my shoulder.

"Good thing you came out so I don't have to go get you, we're going. Like right now." Carson said, I pulled away but kept an arm on Lily's waist as I glanced at her and the five that had emerged from the house.

Ted looked confused, rightfully so. "What? But we just got here, what happened?" He glanced our way, looking back quickly. "What happened to Lily?"

This caused Madi to make her way over, placing a reassuring hand on Lily's arm as she peered at her worriedly, then at me. I shook my head.

"We're going Ted, let's go." I said, guiding Lily to the car as everyone got in the same spots as before. No one went in the house at all to let anyone know, it wasn't important enough.

She leaned on me the car ride back, not saying a word and only holding my hand tightly. It was pretty much silent, the mood had pretty much been crushed for the night. The drive felt like an eternity. Every passing light and house looked like we'd seen it for the hundredth time, finally speeding up as we pulled into the driveway and piled out. I stayed in the car with Lily for another moment.

"Lily," I said, almost in a whisper. "What do you wanna do?"

Her eyes were still glassy when she looked up at me. "I don't wanna be a bother Wil-"

I quickly cut her off. "You know you never are, anything you want to do is up to you, now and always. I just want you to be comfortable."

She leaned up and kissed me softly, almost as a thank you.

"Can we just go upstairs, maybe could you run me a bath? I just feel really tense." she asked, playing with our intertwined fingers.

"Anything for you."

We got out as the car locked automatically, walking through the front door. Everyone was sitting on the couches, Travis and Carson standing, as if they were going to announce something. No doubt they were gonna tell everyone what happened, but it had to be done.

I simply led Lily upstairs with a hand on the small of her back, making sure she wasn't glancing back at everyone to make her more upset than she already is.

She sat on the edge of the bed, kicking her shoes off as she looked at me. I kicked my shoes off as well, going to the bathroom, turning on the water to a good temperature and letting it run for a bit when I added the nicest soap I could find. Kind of rose-y.

I went back into the bedroom, Lily now laying on the bed fully, eyes closed. I shuffled through some cabinets and drawers, finding some candles shoved in the back that the Airbnb owners left there along with a small pack of matches.

I set them up on the counter along with one on the edge of the tub. Noticing the tub full, I shut the water off and left the door open. I went over to her and flopped next to her, turning to face her grinning.

She turned towards me, smiling, bringing a hand up to poke one of my dimples in.

"Your bath is ready my dear, go and relax." I brought my hand to meet hers, pulling it back from my cheeks and to my lips to give a few light kisses. I pulled her to sit up with me to escort her to the door, as a true gentleman would.

"Thank you Wil, beyond words. Thank you for being you." she hugged me tight around my waist, not giving me a chance to hug back before she slipped in the door and locked it behind her.

I couldn't stop smiling, ruffling my hair and stepping away from the door to go out into the hall. I peered down the stairs and it seemed that everyone had gone back to their rooms. I tapped on Schlatt's door lightly and it opened a moment later. He stepped out into the hall with me.

"Just so you know Lily's taking a bath, so I suggest not going into the bathroom for a bit." He nodded sharply, something racking his brain.

"Schlatt?"

"Wilbur we're gonna beat the shit out of him." He said after a beat, looking at me seriously. "We're gonna ruin him. I'm not sure how yet but I always come up with something."

I sighed, the anger I felt earlier starting to resurface. "Trust me, that's the closest I've ever come to killing someone before. If Carson hadn't stopped me, he'd be in the hospital."

He let out a huff of a laugh, shaking his head and then looking at me. "You know I take care of business buddy, keep an eye on her." I nodded at him before he stepped back in his door and exchanging the nod, a goodnight of sorts.

About 20 minutes had past since I'd talked to Schlatt and I heard the sound of a drain in the bathroom. I sat up from where I'd chosen to lay on the bed to pass the time, swiftly changing into a t-shirt and shorts, then getting out one of my sweaters and a pair of my shorts for her. I didn't want to go through her stuff, you know?

I placed them out on the corner of the bed right as I heard the doorknob turning. I stood to the side with my eyes closed _and_ my right hand over them, the left pointing at the clothes.

She giggled as her footsteps got closer, ruffling and tussling to put clothes on being heard in my earshot. I felt her wet hair against my arm as she wrapped herself around me again.

"I'm decent, at ease soldier." she joked, swatting at the hand covering my eyes.

"Ah, feels good not to be blind." I blinked around, looking down at her as my arms came to hug her tight and fall onto the bed. We laughed together for a bit till we just stared, smiling at one another.

"Thank you again for tonight Wilbur." she said, closing her eyes and resting her head against my chest.

"I didn't do much, I wish I could've done more." I admitted, holding her tighter against me as her breath began to even out.

She mumbled in a half-assed protest. "You were there, that's all that matters." I kissed the top of her head and closed my eyes.


	24. XXIV

**•Wilbur•**

It was finally the day to head home, I was still feeling anxious for Lily from the _situation_ that happened the night before but we managed to get all of our stuff packed up and headed to the airport in the afternoon.

Since it'll be a while before I see everyone in person again, I knew it'd feel bittersweet. I hugged everyone tight, exchanging our respected goodbyes, and we headed off.

The flight passed quicker than when we had first gone, everything really seemed like it flew by. Before we knew, it Lily and I were back home, dumping our luggage and bags by the door and flopping unceremoniously on the couch.

I sat as Lily slid to the side, resting her head down in my lap.

"Hi Wil" she says, looking up at me as I place down one hand to play with her hair.

"Hi Miss Lily" I say, smiling down at her.

A beat of silence passes.

"So, what do we do now?" she asks, hesitant almost. I raise an eyebrow at her.

"What do you mean?" she sits up, looking at me straight now, leaning my head against her palm and elbow against the back of the couch.

"Do I like... sleep in my own room now, or do we sleep in yours, or do we forget about everything, or do we-" she rambles, peering down at the couch cushions.

I chuckle, placing a hand on the top of her head to make her look up at me. "Lily, like I said, it's whatever you want to do." 

"So does that mean I can sleep in your room tonight?" I nod "Of course." 

She smiles softly at me and leans towards me. I lean in too, thinking I know what she's going for. Quickly, she leans to my ear instead and whispers something to me.

"Pog." 

She quickly gets up and makes a beeline for the bathroom, I get up to chase her. Both of us laughing at this point.

"Lily!" the door locks with a _click_ "You can't just pog me! You pog blocked me!" I say through my laughing fit as she does the same on the other side.

"Yes I can! Shoo! I'm taking a shower now Wil, I'm gonna go to bed after!" she shouts through the door.

I step away, still smiling. I head to the door to get our bags put away. I bring mine to my room first, throwing them on the bed to be dealt with in a minute. Then bring Lily's into her room and leave them on top of her bed as well. I go back to mine and begin to unpack, turning on my computer before doing so.

I'm putting dirty clothes in the laundry basket and ones I didn't wear away before I hear the sound of a _ping_ from my phone, followed by a _bwoop_ from my desk. I walk over to check my phone first.

_ **Schlatt** _

_discord. now._

_ **Wilbur Soot** _

_ok?_

I scrunch my face in confusion at the message, even so I sit down at my desk and type my password in, quickly clicking on the discord icon at the bottom of my screen. It takes a couple more clicks but I find the notification I got just a minute earlier, it's in the chat I had with Schlatt and Carson before TwitchCon.

_ Schlatt _

_1 Media Attachment: 1m 47 sec_

I click the attachment he sent, it opening in a separate screen. It starts out of focus and shaky but soon centers on a dim lit room. The camera's in the corner opposite the door, but still has a clear shot of the whole room.

It's empty, but only a few seconds later, a guy and a girl walk in, no. _No._

_It's fucking Fitz and Lily_

They're talking, but I can't quite hear what they're saying since my headphones aren't on, so I quickly shove them on realizing the audio is still bad because of the music from the whole party. It can definitely be tweaked to be heard though. He corners her, she fights back, she _runs_ for it. The clip ends with a blur of Fitz getting up to presumably chase after her.

_ WilburSoot _

_How in the fucking world did you get this schlatt_

_so fast too_

_ Schlatt _

_I have my ways Wilbur._

_I told you, we're going to fucking destroy him_

_now it's your move_

I sat back in my chair, overwhelmed, my throat felt like it was in my stomach. It was so much worse watching it play out, I can't believe he almost got away with that.

_Almost._

He's not going to get away with this. I'm way beyond letting go.

_ WilburSoot _

_seriously how'd you get this?_

_ CallMeCarson _

_be smart about this Wilbur_

_and yea schlatt how_

_ Schlatt _

_looked up the airbnb listing, can't say anymore_

_ CallMeCarson _

_shady but ok_

_ WilburSoot _

_What should I DO?_

_ Schlatt _

_If I were you Wil, I'd fix the audio so you can hear it_

_Make an anon twitter account, p_ _ost it there, and then boom you're done_

_ WilburSoot _

_So let the internet take care of this?_

I let out a frustrated sigh, swiveling away from the screen for the moment, right as the door opened.

Lily was in her pajamas, hair still damp from her shower.

"Sleep now?" She asked, rubbing her eyes making her way over to me.

I shook my head. "In a sec, look at this." I turn back to the screen, scrolling up slightly to click the video and press play.

She gasps as it gets to the part of them entering, I skip to the end so she doesn't have to relive it.

"Y-you got it all? How's that possible!" She stared at me in disbelief.

"It was Schlatt, I don't know what he did but he got it. But..." I hesitated.

Her eyes kept flickering from mine to the screen "But what?"

"What do you want to do with the video?" I asked as she sat down at the edge of the bed. 

We sat in silence for a bit as she thought, the discord notifications going off in the background.

"Schlatt said to make an anon account and just let it go from there." I suggest, trying to lighten the load of her thoughts.

She nods slightly and sighs. "That's probably for the best, I don't want him to get away with it." I nod and turn back to the screen. "Tell Schlatt thank you from me" she adds.

I nod again, hoping she sees it as I tell Carson and Schlatt that I will in the morning before shutting down my computer. I put away the rest of my stuff before grabbing my pajama's and heading to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

I head back and flick the lights off, Lily already under the covers and half asleep. I crawl in next to her, excited for tomorrow morning.

God I hope this works.


	25. XXV

**•Lily•**

I sat at the edge of Wil's bed as he sat at in front of his computer the next morning. We'd already had breakfast but now the nerves that I had suppressed all morning were rearing their head and made me want to run to the bathroom and stay there.

I watched over his shoulder as he made a new twitter account, looking for a profile picture and setting up a unimportant sentence in the bio. Why was I feeling so _uncertain_ about this now? This is what's supposed to be done, Fitz obviously deserves it.

_It just feels wrong._

"Wil?" I pipe up meekly, looking at the back of his head until he turned his head to look me in the eye.

"What's up? I'm almost done here then we can post it and-"

"I don't feel right about all this." I cut him off, nervous to think how quick the process of just releasing it would be.

His eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "But just last night you were like, excited to do this? Probably just a little anxiety, it'll pass." he shoots me a light smile and goes to turn back to the task at hand.

"Why don't we tell the authorities? The police have to be able to do something." I blurt out, his head turning back to me. His smile falters and falls.

"We could but, fuck why didn't we do that. Being back in the U.K. is gonna make it tough." He says. _Good point._

We sat for a bit and contemplated the options on the table. On one hand we could somehow contact the San Diego police department and somehow send them the video or post it and wait for the police to come to us.

Or we could do both.

"Hey Wil," I pipe up, getting his attention again. His room was starting to feel suffocating with the Twitter account still up on his screen. "Go ahead and post it and we'll call them in a little while."

He looked at me skeptically, a small frown.

"Are you one hundred percent sure Lily? We don't have to make it a public thing if it makes you anxious now?" his concern was breaking through his statements more and more, almost looking like was going to get up from his chair to be next to me.

I smiled at him reassuringly, despite the fear I was feeling.

"One hundred percent. I want to experience the fall off Fitz."

That made him giggle, finally turning around to the screen and finishing up the account, getting the video attached to a new tweet.

"You're starting to sound like Schlatt, is that just an American thing?" he asks, glancing back. I laugh a bit and get up to stand next to his chair.

"Yea sure, if that's what you wanna think." I reply, peering at the screen.

Everything is set. He'd decided to caption the tweet, _'Fitz, member of popular group the Misfits, caught on camera in attempted assault of Lily Stafford, streamer Wilbur Soot's roommate"._

It almost seemed like a news article, I'd never felt so grateful for technology, especially how fast Schlatt was able to get this. Wilbur picked up the mouse and placed it in front of me on the desk.

"You're the one that should do it." He said simply, looking at me and back to the screen.

I took the mouse in my hand, centering it on the _Tweet_ button, and clicked. It buffered and posted a second later. Now all we had to do is wait.

_One long waiting game._

The grin that came to my face couldn't be helped, I felt Wilbur's arm on my lower back, bringing me in for a hug which I pulled him into instantly.

"Will everything be okay?" I asked into his hair, me standing and him sitting not being a very even hug. Mostly my arms around his head and his around my stomach.

I unwrapped my arms and replaced them with my hands on his cheeks, pulling him up into a tender kiss. Raw emotions taking over what was meant to be quick. He placed his hands on my waist, pulling me closer as I was leaning over him, he pressed up closer to me to keep the kiss going.

We pulled back a moment later, huffing and grinning, swiping our noses against each other.

"It'll be fine Lily." he mumbled, sitting back in his chair with his hands still on my waist, almost as a request to stay for a bit longer.

"I finally go to Uni today" I state, almost weary. "And Wil? How are people gonna find the video?"

He sighs and stands, stretching a bit. "Key words, pretty much. If people look for Fitz and go to latest they'll see it, same thing for both of our names."

"You're gonna do great." Placing a hand on my head, he pulls my forehead towards him to kiss.

I turn to step out of his room first, going into mine and grabbing a sweater and jeans, pulling them on quick so I could be on my way to figure everything out once I get to Uni. I head into the bathroom, washup, and walk out into the living room to see Wil lying on the couch, a cup of coffee on the table.

"Well, I'm off." I say, peeking at the news he had playing on the TV, going to the door to slip on my shoes and put my bag on one shoulder.

He nods and points to the kitchen. "Put coffee in a travel mug for you" I head in there as he continues. "Be safe and call me later on okay? I'll text you if anything crazy happens with- you know."

I come out with the mug in my left hand, still warm.

"Okie doke, bye Wil!" I say, opening the door with my right and letting it close behind me.

Hopefully today will be looking up from here.


	26. XXVI

**•Wilbur•**

Once Lily left, I spent most of the day on the computer switching between the tweet and discord. I updated Schlatt the moment I'd said bye to Lily, soon enough the tweet started to spread.

By 11 am it was trending.

The accounts mentions were flooded more and more with each refresh I made, I could only hope that Lily wasn't looking at it in her free time at school because the reactions were making me feel sick.

A majority of them felt as I did, disgusted.

_misfitz333:_

_guess I gotta unstan, that's so disgusting_

_starrysoot:_

_can we report this somehow?_

_callmefitzy:_

_i dont want to believe this is real, oh my god what the fuck_

Others didn't.

_crispyfitz:_

_how do we know this is real? could be a deep fake?_

_missedfits:_

_looks like her fault tho...why'd she go by herself lol_

_user3424:_

_fitz can't do wrong. arrest her it's her fault._

A majority were taking Lily's side thankfully, but I didn't have much to do with that. I didn't want to call the police without Lily being here with me but it felt so wrong having it out there with no authorities backing it up. I shook my head and went to go make some coffee to easy my nerves.

My ringtone went off right as I picked up my hot mug, making me spill some on my foot.

"Motherfucker!- Who-?" I grabbed it quick and answered, placing the mug down. "He- Hello? What?"

"Why so angry? Get on discord group call." Classic New York accent.

"Well Schlatt, you've caused me to spill boiling hot coffee on myself so-"

"Okay, okay drama queen, get on call." The line beeped twice, he hung up.

I sighed, going to my computer with my coffee and sat with a huff, clicking the discord icon.

"What?" I say as I observe everyone in the call. It's Schlatt, Carson, Ted, Travis, and Cooper. I can already feel the conversations intensity rushing at me.

Carson spoke to me first. "So you calling the cops now or never?" He asks matter of factly.

"Well...I'm planning to wait until Lily's home since, ya know, she's the victim here. It wouldn't make much sense for me to do it and-"

"But you could at least tell them and they can call you back later when you're with Lily!" Travis butts in, almost yelling to emphasize his point.

Cooper clarifies. "What Travis means is report it now so they can get to Fitz while he's still in San Diego and if they need information from Lily they'll get it. If you keep putting it off man it's gonna be a pain in the ass to deal with." 

I nod my head in agreement, "True.. but what if-"

"When he goes back to Australia it'll be even more difficult to report since it wouldn't have beep reported to the same police of where it happened, like what would they do then? It's time sensitive Wilbur." Ted says, making another point.

I started to second guess what to do as they spoke amongst themselves. What if Lily gets home like, a minute too late? Or even the police in San Diego don't do anything? Should I take that chance? And if I do will she just blow off any future attempts to report it and go on like it never happened.

"Guys..." I spoke up, "I think I'm gonna call them now but can I keep you guys on while I do? Reassurance and accountability stuff ya know?" 

They all hum in agreement and I instantly start to search for the number for the San Diego Police Department. I call it immediately as soon as I find it, lowering my computer volume and my leg shaking as I waited for the ring tone.

 _"San Diego Police Department how can I help you?"_ It was a monotone but kind mans voice on the line.

"Hi my name is William Gold" I took a breath "I'd like to report a sexual assault that happened a few days ago." I heard him hum in confirmation and move a few things around.

 _"Give as much detail as possible."_ He requests and I do. As soon as I mention the video involved he interrupts me.

 _"Oh so you're the one calling from THAT video."_ He asks. "Yes, I'm, ah, dating the girl that was assaulted."

 _"I see, I see. We've seen the video earlier since it started trending. We've had some other officers already looking into it and searching for her contact information."_ I nod even though he can't see it, he continues. _"Could you possibly provide us with it so we can question her further?"_

I put him on speaker and go into my contacts to get her number "Sure, her cell number is XXX-XXX-XXXX, that's the only number I know she has."

 _"Ok great, we'll reach out to her soon. Thank you for calling and reporting this."_ He says, before I can respond he ends the call.

I turn the volume back up on the computer and go to text Lily that they'll be trying to call her just in case she's in class.

"So I think that went pretty well."

"Hopefully it works out well, not to be a bummer but stuff like this has a 50/50 chance of being successful." Carson points out, causing agreements from Cooper and Travis.

"I'd like to hope it's on the good half of that." I say confidently, moving the hair out of my face and checking if Lily's responded yet. Nothing.

We talk for a little while longer away from the topic, trying to lighten the mood.

Schlatt ends it with some comforting words, "You know Wilbur, the video is out there and Lily's a sweetheart. There's no way this can't work out." I agree and thank them all for being there to support her, leaving the call.

I finally go back to twitter, switching from the account I made and to my main. I see a shit ton of notifications of course, and a few new dms.

I click through and respond to some of them before getting a brand new one.

Fuck.

_1 new message from @goodguyfitz!_


	27. XXVII

**•Wilbur•**

At least 5 minutes had passed since I'd stared at the message request from Fitz, I knew exactly what it would be about and so I finally snapped myself out of my trance, clicking it. 

_@goodguyfitz: Wilbur! I'm sure you've seen that video circulating, and I was wondering if I could have a chat of sorts with you. My reputation is sort of on the line here haha, and you know drunken mistakes... perhaps you could put a word out on your account to clear the air around me. We're buddies ya know! I gave you an invite!_

I looked at the message in complete shock. He really thought I would release a tweet clearing his name when it's _my_ girlfriend he tried to fuck with. I couldn't grasp where he was going with what he was trying to say to me. Thinking he'd get away scott free from a simple tweet.

The utter _nerve_ he'd have to have built up to think it was okay to message me. He's lucky we're not in the same country right now.

My fingers hovered the keyboard, trying to find something to say. Bouncing between complete aggression or a subtle threat, I took a deep breath and began typing.

The sound of the keys smashing because of the anger I felt didn't ease the heavy feeling in my already too silent room.

I could feel my face scrunch and contort as I typed certain things and erased them, only to rewrite them in a different format. It felt as though I was showing emotions to a silent conversation that neither party could see but had to be shown in the comfort of my own presence. 

I'd thought about how I'd read this message to Lily when she gets home, if I should just let her explain her day before utterly ruining it with the short discussion that was about to be had between Fitz and I.

I really just hope she's okay.

Coming to the end of my last piece, I read over the carefully organized message and leaned back in my chair sighing, rubbing roughly at my face with both hands before bringing my right down to my mouse, hovering send.

I don't even fucking care what he thinks. _Sent._

_@WilburSoot: Fitz, you are incredibly lucky that we are not in the same place right now and multiple people had to hold me back from going in to beat your face in that night. You deserve to crash and burn, just like every other scum like you. Alcohol is an excuse and it's clearly in your blood to act as you did. I cannot wait to watch you suffer and I'm sure Lily is excited as well. Don't fuck with either of us and don't contact me again._

It was a solid message, and while I was at it, I thought I might as well indulge in his request to tweet about it. Short and sweet.

_Bye bye, Fitz. You're done._

Sending that, I decided I was done with the internet for today, or for at least a few hours. Right as I got up from my desk, heading out of my room, I heard the front door click open.

"Wil! I'm back!" Lily called, followed by the bang of the door behind her and the rattling of keys. 

I walked faster down the hall and rounded the corner, seeing her smiling towards me with her bag on her shoulder and keys in her rights hand. She stretched her arms up to beckon me forward.

I hugged her around her waist, lifting her and spinning, earning a laugh and a hug back. 

"How was it?" I asked, setting her back down. She leaned in for a kiss and of course I complied before she went to place her bag down on the couch.

"It was pretty good, the classes were interesting and the professors were nice!" She sat with a sigh of relief. "I really liked it, but I did get a call while I was on break between classes."

Frowning, I nodded my head and went to sit beside her, pulling her legs into my lap so she could lay down for a bit.

"Yeah, I talked to the guys earlier and they said I should've called the police sooner than later." Reaching for my hand, she grabbed the one that I had placed on her leg and brought it to hold in her lap. "I would've waited for you but I got nervous about it all, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, they just asked me some basic stuff and to clarify, ya know, what happened." She replied, squeezing my hand and resting her head back.

We sat in comfortable silence for a bit, before I decided to open my big mouth.

"Fitz messaged me." I said, somewhat nonchalantly.

Lily's head snapped up to lock eyes with me. "What'd he say? Was it bad?" 

I contemplated whether to tell her a summary or the full thing, maybe in the case I could ease her nerves. Of course I ended up telling her the full thing, start to finish, ending with the tweet I sent.

"Wow." she sighed. "So you're kinda a badass now huh?" She smirked at me, a playful twinkle in her eyes. I chuckled at her, always trying to lighten the situation.

"I mean, if someone's messing with you, my girlfriend of all people, of course I'll get like... beyond defensive. Especially now." I smiled at her then down at my lap- well, my hand on her legs.

"You're just too perfect Wil." I squeeze her hand as she continues. "I'll always be here to back you up too, okay?"

I don't say anything, just nod in response. Lily moves to to the opposite position, putting her head in my lap instead of her legs, looking up at me.

"Okay Wil?" She asks again, I smirk and lean down to kiss the tip of her nose, hovering close to her.

"Okay Lily, I know you will." I confirm, kissing her lips softly.

It felt as though the storm was finally passing and we could have a moment to relax. I laid back against the couch, running my hands through her hair.

I could hear discord notifications coming from the other room, but I drowned them out as we fell into a much needed nap.


	28. XXVIII

**•Lily•**

I woke up a few hours later with a blanket tucked around me, no Wilbur in sight. Sitting up, I rubbed the static from my eyes and did a quick stretch, ready to do a search for Wilbur. I could hear his voice coming from the other room, but couldn't make out what he was saying.

Before I could stand, my phone screen was bright with new notifications and buzzing with new messages. I picked it up wearily to see what was so important.

Various messages from Wilbur's friends- well, my friends now, asking me how I was feeling, followed my twitter notifications in my DMs.

I went to twitter first to see what that was about before I answered messages, just incase I was missing out on something.

 _Oh._ I definitely was.

**_ Top Trending _ **

**_Fitz_ **

_ Youtuber and Misfits member Fitz has been taken into custody by police while residing in his San Diego Airbnb hours before leaving back to Australia. Sources currently updating with more information. _

I read the tag over and over again followed by every single thing trending under it. Not only was my name trending but so was Wilbur's. I got up quick, dropping my phone back on the coffee table, leaving the messages for later and whatever other things there were to respond to on twitter.

I went straight to Wilbur's room, almost sliding on the hardwood from how fast I was walking. I knocked hard but still waited for an 'okay', which he barely got to finish as I turned the knob.

Stepping through the doorway, I saw he had his streaming lights set up, but I didn't acknowledge further.

"Did you see?" I questioned, my lips pressed in a tight line. He nodded at me, almost mimicking my expression until I made the next move. I let out a small whimper, mostly out of relief, and started walking towards him with my arms out. 

He got up quick, letting me go to him and letting his arms wrap around my shoulders. He brought my head to his chest tight.

"Thank fucking _god._ " I cried, tears of joy definitely seeping into his sweater. Everything happened so fast in just the span of a day and I could barely take it.

He hushed me and comforted me, not for too long because it didn't take more than 5 minutes to compose myself. "Just so you know, chat has been accompanying us." He says, loud enough I assume his mic will pick up. That alone got a nasally laugh out of me. getting me to pull away and wipe at my face.

I lean down and wave to the camera. I don't look _too_ bad.

"Hey everybody! Hope your day has been as good as mine." I attempt to say as if I didn't just cripple emotionally for who knows how many people to see. Oh nevermind, 25k. _Very Cool._

"I only started streaming like, an hour ago. We actually all found out what happened less than 30 minutes ago but I didn't wanna wake you up." He said to me, moving his chair back in place and motioning for me to sit.

Taking a seat, I looked from the camera and back to him as he squat down beside me, resting on the arm of the chair. "It's like someone took a brick off my chest. And then like 14 cars." I said as everything began to settle in.

Wil nodded, laughing lightly and leaning into my ear, making sure it wouldn't get picked up on the mic.

"Do you want to tell them we're dating, or do you want to wait?" He asked, pulling back to wait for my response.

It was almost immediate as I nodded my head and grinned, facing fully towards the camera.

"Wil would like me to be the one to tell you guys..." I started, drawing it out a little bit. "it's something you've all probably expected..."

"Ooo chat what's she gonna say!" Wil cheered from the sidelines.

I let the anticipation build as the chat was barely loading a single word.

_User9483:_

_WOMAN???? SAY IT???_

_User3234:_

_OMG OMG OMG OMG_

_User2093:_

_possible clip moment?_

_User7342:_

_I'LL DONO FOR YOU TO SAY IT FASTER_

I giggled at the ones I could read and finally decided I'd waited too long, or I'd be here all night just watching them freak out.

"Wilbur and I are dating!" I said, doing a little jazz hand movement. Looking at Wilbur's grin turn into a full smile on the screen made me look at him, clearly reading the chat.

"Who woulda thought!"

"Literally _everyone._ " I retorted in an obvious tone, causing a fit of giggles and chat to pick up speed more.

We sat there for a little while longer as chat went on and on and Wilbur began getting back into streamer mode, so I said goodnight to chat and headed back to grab my phone, not without placing a quick kiss into Wil's curls to stir the pot a bit. I just barely heard his voice donations come back on, immediately feeling bad for his mods and the night they were about to have to deal with.

Phone finally in hand again, I responded to everyone, telling them how relieved I was. I didn't bother checking twitter again because that would just make me nervous all over again and it was time to unwind.

I sat down in bed, computer in my lap, and opened up Google Docs. Real school, real assignments, so I had to get in gear.

I clicked into the assignment page and got a wave of inspiration. This was gonna be _so_ easy.


	29. final

**•Wilbur•**

A few days had passed, thankfully with a lot of support towards Lily and a lot of information had finally come out about Fitz, making it possible for him to get charged for what he did. As per usual the craze from twitter died down, people stopped talking about it in the comments of anything and everything posted, and everything was pretty much becoming normal again. 

I think the fact that Lily was in school made it a bit better, took her mind off of it. Right now she was on the couch typing away at an assignment I feel as though she'd been working on day in and day out since she saw it but I let her focus, not questioning the intensity of it.

I was cooking lunch, a simple grilled cheese for the both of us since it's what she wanted. Of _course_ I'll give her what she wants.

I slid them on two separate plates and placed them in the sink to be dealt with later, editing my vods had been pushed back since before we went to twitch con so I had to get back on top of it.

Right as I made my way to place the sandwich next to her, I watched her firmly click one last key on her laptop and set her hands to her sides in relief.

She smiled up to me, practically beckoning me to come faster.

"I'm done! I'm actually finally done!" She says excitedly.

"No way, I would've thought it'd take you another week." I say sarcastically, smiling back of course as I sat down next to her, peering at her screen. I placed the plates down and asked, "What's it about though?"

"Basically..." she adjusts her screen so it's tilted up at her. "The question was 'What was something risky you did that turned out well in the end?' and I thought huh, going to a complete strangers house the first time I'm in a new country sounds like that. So that's what I wrote about." 

I nodded my head, signaling her to go on and read me a bit.

"I pretty much just talked about you the whole time, which made it a lot easier..." she scrolls down a bit, noticing the page count it was 5 pages long.

"5 pages?" I comment in disbelief.

She nods. "Oh god yeah, I could've written plenty more but the professor set a limit. Most of the other ones people submitted were only like 2."

"I made sure to put when I first got off the plane, especially when I bumped into you-" "I'm still surprised that you came with me, I'm glad of course but-" I try to cut in, but she still ends up cutting me off.

"There would be no paper if I hadn't, so I'm glad. Still now just becoming concerned my past self did that though but it's besides the point." She says, glancing at me from the corner of her eye and back to the screen.

"But basically it's all about how we met, getting to know you, how you react and your passions. The simple things you showed me like walking around, or making meals together. Then the complicated stuff like twitch and everything involved in your music." A small smile grew on her face.

"It made me feel a lot more grateful to wake up everyday to a new thing to find out about you than contemplate what I could've done different when I'd got here."

With that I put my arm around her shoulder, bringing her closer to lean my head on hers.

"I feel the same." I smiled, squeezing her arm gently. "I can't even tell you how happy I am I had to walk in the rain, just to meet you."

"Me too, Wil. I wish I could've done it not entirely lost though." trailing off, she continues to scroll through the multiple pages, I caught words briefly as they flew by.

"Are you all done editing it? I'll proofread if you want?" I asked, and she shook her head. "Nah, it's perfect the way it is now. I've already submitted it."

With that she shut her laptop and laid it gently on the coffee table, finally picking up the sandwich I'd made and leaning back into me with a heavy sigh.

"My compliments to the chef." nudging me with her elbow and getting me to pick up my own. First I turned the TV on, selecting YouTube and the first video that popped up on the recommended which just so happened to be Schlatt.

Time passed faster than usual, we watched video after video, until it was finally time to head to bed since Lily had to go to class the next morning. We did our usual routine, me cleaning whatever dishes were left as she showed quickly, before we met back in my room. Well, _our_ room at this point.

Cozied under the blankets and all but one light out, laying to face one another. I looked into those same beautiful, endearing eyes that I'd locked with when we'd first bumped into each other and couldn't help but smile.

"What?" Lily asked and giggled, looking at me curiously for an answer.

"Oh well didn't you know," I scooted closer to her "I'm the luckiest guy in London, may I be as bold as to say the planet?"

She laughed and shook her head at me. "You're so dumb...I'M the luckiest." 

I turned and shut the light off, getting as close to her as I was before. Still attempting to look into her eyes despite the dark.

"You're my favorite flower, Lily."

"Yea? And you're my favorite streamer."

**END**


End file.
